Bayuda Studies: Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the Bayuda Desert in Sudan 3447110643, 9783447110648

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meroitica  27 Bayuda Studies Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the Bayuda Desert in Sudan Edited by Angelika Lohwasser, Tim Karberg and Johannes Auenmüller

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11.06.18 09:37

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

meroitica

Schriften zur altsudanesischen Geschichte und Archäologie Herausgegeben vom Institut für Archäologie, Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte Nordostrafrikas der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

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2018

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

Bayuda Studies Proceedings of the First International Conference on the Archaeology of the Bayuda Desert in Sudan Edited by Angelika Lohwasser, Tim Karberg and Johannes Auenmüller

2018

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

Die Bände 1–14 erschienen im Akademie-Verlag Berlin.

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.dnb.de abrufbar. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

For further information about our publishing program consult our website http://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de © Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden 2018 This work, including all of its parts, is protected by copyright. Any use beyond the limits of copyright law without the permission of the publisher is forbidden and subject to penalty. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. Printed on permanent/durable paper. Printing and binding: Memminger MedienCentrum AG Printed in Germany ISSN 0138-3663 ISBN 978-3-447-11064-8 e-ISBN PDF 978-3-447-19771-7

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

Table of Contents Foreword: Angelika Lohwasser, Tim Karberg & Johannes Auenmüller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IX Welcome Address: Abelrahman Ali Mohammed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XI Introduction: Angelika Lohwasser, Tim Karberg & Johannes Auenmüller . . . . . . . . . . . . XIII

Part I: W.A.D.I. Project Tim Karberg & Angelika Lohwasser The WadiAbu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) Survey Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Baldur Gabriel Puzzling Cultural Relics in the Bayuda (N-Sudan) andAdjacentAreas . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 André Beuger The Geoarchaeology Web Service 2.0: Open Archaeological Geodata of the Bayuda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Jalina Tschernig & Loai Shamsalola So-Called Gravel Beds: Assessing Function Through Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Alexandros Tsakos Inscriptions in Greek Script on Rock Outcrops in the Wadi Abu Dom . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Dieter Eigner Fortified Sites? Monumental Buildings in the Wadi Abu Dom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Jana Eger & Elżbieta Kołosowska From the Late Meroitic to the Makurian Period: First Results of Excavations at Cemetery Sites in the Wadi Abu Dom . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Friederike Jugert, Theresa W. Klatt, Birgit Grosskopf & Susanne Hummel Anthropologic and Palaeogenetic Studies on Human Skeletal Remains from the WadiAbu Dom, Sudan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 Mohammed Eltoum Mohammed Fadlelmola Traditional Activities in the Bayuda Desert: A Case Study on Salt and Tar . . . . . . . . . 247

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Part II: Bayuda Studies Joanna A. Ciesielska, Artur Obłuski & Robert J. Stark The Cemeteries of Ghazali: Season 2015/2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Robert J. Stark & Joanna A. Ciesielska Cemetery 4 at Ghazali (Sudan): Excavations During the Fall 2016 Season . . . . . . . . . 273 Henryk Paner The Western Bayuda Desert at the End of the 3rd and During the 2nd Millennium BC: Archaeological Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Michael Mallinson, Abdelrahman Ali Mohammed, Dorian Fuller & Laurence M. V. Smith Road Archaeology in the Wadi Muqaddam, SARS Survey from Omdurman to Gabolab: Environmental and Cultural Change in the Bayuda . . . . . . . . 309 Timothy Kendall Archaeological Explorations in the Bayuda Desert: Al-Meragh and the Wadi Muqaddam Between Tamtam and Korti (1999–2000) . . . . . 359 Fawzi Hassan Bakhiet The Debba-Dam Archaeological Survey Project (DDASP), QSAP: Two Seasons (2013–2014 and 2014–2015) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423 Madani Mohamed Abualfath Madani The Exploration of the Coronation Road of Meroe’s Kings Between Meroe and Jebel Barkal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439 Ahmed Hamid Nassr Regional Diversities of Palaeolithic Stone Tools: Comparative Studies Between the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River, the Bayuda Desert and Central Sudan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461 Amelia Biegalska, Joanna Chruścicka, Elżbieta Kołosowska, Mirosław Masojć & Aleksandra Pudło Pioneering Archaeological Observations Made by Klaus-Dieter Meinhold’s Geological Expedition in the Bayuda Desert in 1976–1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491 Mirosław Masojć Lithic Materials from a Late Nubian Complex Middle Stone Age Site in the Bayuda Desert: Goat Mountain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503 Author Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535 © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

Foreword The first Archaeological Bayuda Conference was held 10–12 September 2015 at Münster University, Germany. For the first time, researchers working in and about the Bayuda, a vast desert region in northern Sudan, came together to discuss the results of their archaeological studies and investigations, ranging from Palaeolithic to quite recent times. As the conference aimed at engaging in an interdisciplinary dialogue, the present proceedings want to showcase the current state of research about the Bayuda, while also attempting to define research questions for future explorations. The conference and the publication of its proceedings were generously funded by the German Research Foundation and the Westphalian Wilhelms-University Münster, to whom we would like to express our deep gratitude. We are grateful to the Institut für Archäologie, Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte Nordostafrikas, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, for accepting the proceedings for publication in the series Meroitica, and to Steffen Wenig and Claudia Näser for their interest in this manuscript. We are also much obliged to Jens Fetkenheuer from the Harrassowitz publishing house who provided considerable assistance in finalizing the manuscript. Daniel Kischko helped with editing tasks, and Frank Joachim was responsible for the layout. We extend our sincerest thanks to all of you! Finally, we would like to thank all our speakers and contributors for the lively discussions and their thought-provoking articles! Münster, Spring 2018 Angelika Lohwasser – Tim Karberg – Johannes Auenmüller

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

Welcome Address Abelrahman Ali Mohammed I am very happy to attend the First Archaeological Bayuda Conference in Münster. I want to thankAngelika Lohwasser and her team for organizing this conference that aims at highlighting the importance of archaeological research in and about the Wadi Abu Dom undertaken by a number of international missions. The Bayuda desert is an important area from an archaeological point of view. I noticed that in 1995 when I participated in the archaeological survey along the Northern Artery Road sponsored by SARS. This desert is very rich and hides a variety of ancient remains visible already from the surface that are the basis for discovering important historical facts now and in the future. The findings will not only enrich archaeological research, but also stress the fact that Sudan is a cradle of civilizations. On this occasion, I would like to invite German scientific institutions dealing with cultural heritage to come and explore the archaeology of the Sudan collectively with other international institutions and to contribute to a better understanding of our Sudan’s ancient history. It is the policy of our government to further encourage the efforts of international scholars in the field of archaeological research and to reinforce and strengthen our cooperations with foreign missions working in Sudan. This emanates from the government’s firm belief that ancient Sudanese civilizations are an integral part of world heritage. Our manifold and fruitful cooperations lead to the mounting of exhibitions, organizing symposia and other scholarly activities related to the archeology of the Sudan. One example for an exhibition highlighting our rich cultural heritage was ‘Sudan – Ancient Treasures’ organized by the British Museum. After the pioneering work of British and American missions in the Bayuda that mainly concentrated on the Wadi Muqaddam, archaeological fieldwork was extended towards other areas by Polish and German projects. Their joint efforts will be presented in the following days at the Archaeological Bayuda Conference. I hope that this rich and promising cultural landscape will thus attract even more attention of the international scientific archaeological community in the future.

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

Map of the Bayuda (author: T. Karberg; background map Esri, HydoSHEDS, HydroBASINS, HydroLAKES, Natural Earth).

© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

Introduction Angelika Lohwasser, Tim Karberg & Johannes Auenmüller “Although the scenery is not sufficiently bold to be termed picturesque, it is impossible to conceive a more beautiful desert; valleys and rocks with mountains, whose forms are varied, broken, sometimes conical, but never monotonous. The low grounds are covered with sweet-smelling acacias. The herbage has certainly, at this season, a very burnt appearance; but had there been a greensward, instead of these yellow sands and this long discoloured grass, few spots would be more lovely than the Desert of Bahiouda.” George A. Hoskins (1802-1863) on March 20th, 1833. (George A. Hoskins, Travels in Ethiopia, Above the Second Cataract of the Nile, London 1835, 131) In its beginnings, archaeology in the Sudan focused on the Nile valley. The monuments of Nubia – New Kingdom temples, pyramids of Kushite kings, and palaces of Meroitic rulers – were visited and documented by early explorers and archaeologists in the 19th c. Outside the river valley, only the impressive sites in the Keraba – away from the Nile, but indeed in the heartland of the Meroitic kingdom – were visited by international travellers and archaeologists. In the last 200 years, the interest of archaeologists did not change significantly. Still today, most of the work concentrates on the Nile valley. Only a few but remarkable surveys were and are carried out in remote areas in Sudan such as the Wadi Howar, the Eastern Desert, the Atbara region and Kordofan or Darfur.1 We learn from these investigations that, although monumental sites are much more numerous in the Nile valley, the reconstruction of the past is incomplete without an integrated analysis of the hinterland. Remote areas are part of the cultural and social network. Results of research on the hinterland can complement, but also alter the picture drawn from the sites in the Nile valley. The connections between the Nile valley and the inland and very remote areas are manifold. The inhabitants of both regions – farmers and pastoralists – can be connected by their shared way of life, but also as partners in economy (using trade routes and market places) or in the exploration of raw materials and their processing into worked products. All these connections and networks vary in the different chronological periods, while a number of Nile valley–hinterland relationships seem to continue to exist as traditions. Subsistence patterns and networks may depend on climatic changes; trade partner relations emerge from the needs of their societies; and exploration of raw materials might be dependent on political authority. Therefore, each region as well as each period has to be investigated on its own, before a general picture can be drawn on the societal and economic transformations through the ages.

1

For recently published literature see Jesse 2013; Bushara Mohamed et al. 2013; Manzo 2012; Gratien 2010; Gratien et al. 2015; McGregor 2011.

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One of these remote areas in Sudan is the Bayuda, a region within the great northern bend of the river Nile, approximately between the cities of Omdurman and Korti. The distance from the Nile bend in the north to the southern end of the Bayuda is about 400 km, while the span from east to west is roughly 250 km. Since the rainfall is nowadays below 200 mm per annum and the vegetation cover is rather sparse, it can be called a desert with good reason, while two main wadis drain the seasonal rainfall northwards into the river Nile. In both the Wadi Muqaddam and the Wadi Abu Dom, a scanty vegetation of shrubs and, at specific places, trees accentuates the rather harsh landscape with some green areas in places of favourable ground water conditions. In the centre of the Bayuda, a great volcanic field is situated, which was explored by geologists from the 19th c. onwards.2 North of the volcanic field, plutonic hard stones form a rockier landscape; south of it, Nubian sandstone formations produce a much more flat and sandy desert surface. The hardstone region in the northern half of the Bayuda extends until the Nile valley and as a result, the river banks are quite rocky, and only a narrow strip is suitable for agriculture. In the 5th Cataract region at Shereik as well as around the 4th Cataract at Kirbekan, shipping is nearly impossible, while the part of the Nile in between these narrows, namely in the Abu Hamed region, offers difficult conditions for riverine navigation, too. The southwest Bayuda with its rather flat appearance was used for traversing north and bypassing the difficult Nile bend since time immemorial. Today the Bayuda highway connects Omdurman and Multaga exactly for the same purpose. Human presence in the Bayuda dates back to the Palaeolithic, and it continues until today, although the overall population density is quite low, and thus in accordance with other desert regions in the world. It is therefore important to take the archaeological, ethnographical and local knowledge about this region into account for interpreting the cultural horizons of northern Sudan and for reconstructing life in the past. The proceedings of the Archaeological Bayuda Conference bring together the current state of scientific research on the region. It is the first time that archaeological research on the Bayuda is collected in a comprehensive form. Part I of this volume is devoted to the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary, a survey project meant to be the first step in general research about this specific region and the Bayuda in general. The articles of this section present the results of the survey project that ran from 2009 to 2016. The reports as well as the online WebGIS constitute the final publication of this project. In part II, further results of research in and about the Bayuda are presented, which adumbrate the high archaeological potential of this region. Part I of this volume consist of different papers on research done by several team members of the WadiAbu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) project of Münster University. It starts with a general paper that summarizes and interprets the results of the archaeological survey undertaken in the Wadi Abu Dom (Tim Karberg & Angelika Lohwasser, The Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary [W.A.D.I.] Survey Project). The contribution, thus, presents the categories and dates of sites as well as various conclusions based on the survey record in terms of regional, chronological and cultural aspects. It stresses that the cultural sequence and setting is different from the Nile valley and may present an indigenous ‘Bayuda culture’. Nevertheless, not all categories of archaeological sites could be identified in terms of function, as Baldur Gabriel (Puzzling 2

Starting with the geologist Joseph Russegger (1802–1863), many others described this natural phenomenon.There is even an entry in Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayuda_Volcanic_Field).

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Cultural Relics in the Bayuda [N-Sudan] and Adjacent Areas) points out: for some specific structures, either more well understood parallels or targeted excavations are needed. André Beuger (The Geoarchaeology Web Service 2.0: Open Archaeological Geodata of the Bayuda) presents the WebGIS, which was developed by colleagues from the Institute of Geoinformatics at Münster University. It serves as an online platform for the publication of the project’s survey raw data and is open for use for everybody and will hopefully also be expanded by other projects working in the Bayuda in the future. Other articles deal with specific site and find categories: Jalina Tschernig and Loai Shamsalola (So-Called Gravel Beds: Assessing Function Through Experiments) discuss the quite regular findings of so-called gravel beds, while Alexandros Tsakos (Inscriptions in Greek Script on Rock Outcrops in the Wadi Abu Dom) addresses the Greek epigraphical record in the form of rock inscriptions. Dieter Eigner (Fortified Sites? Monumental Buildings in the Wadi Abu Dom) presents an overview of the large-scale buildings within the Wadi Abu Dom and discusses possible functions. The excavations of several graves in three cemeteries and their results are in the focus of the next contributions of part I: Jana Eger and Elżbieta Kołosowska (From the Late Meroitic to the Makurian Period: First Results of Excavations at Cemetery Sites in the Wadi Abu Dom) report on the excavation of several tumuli and box graves, while Friederike Jugert, Theresa Klatt, Birgit Großkopf and Susanne Hummel (Anthropologic and Palaeogenetic Studies on Human Skeletal Remains from the WadiAbu Dom, Sudan) present their anthropological investigations of the human bone material. Finally, Mohammed Eltoum Mohammed Fadlelmola (Traditional Activities in the Bayuda Desert: A Case Study on Salt and Tar) showcases his observations on some old traditions that continue to live on in the modern customs of the Wadi Abu Dom. Part II is dedicated to the publication of the proceedings of the First Archaeological Bayuda Conference that was held in Münster in September 2015. It represents a collection of international archaeological research in and about the Bayuda and starts again with an important site in the Wadi Abu Dom. The monastery complex of Ghazali was excluded from the survey licence of the W.A.D.I. project, since this site truly deserves a comprehensive and dedicated investigation which would have been an undertaking not feasible for a long-range surface survey project. Since 2012, the excavations of the monastery, settlement and cemeteries of Ghazali are conducted by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology. An overview of the cemeteries is presented by Joanna A. Ciesielska, Artur Obłuski and Robert J. Stark (The Cemeteries of Ghazali: Season 2015/2016), while a special study by Robert J. Stark and Joanna A. Ciesielska is dedicated to cemetery 4 of Ghazali (Cemetery 4 at Ghazali [Sudan]: Excavations During the Fall 2016 Season). Until 2014, a reconnaissance project of the Gdańsk Archaeological Museum Expedition, led by Henryk Paner, covered the north-western Bayuda. This survey provides the basis for mapping the archaeological heritage of the different Bayuda regions. In the contribution to our volume (The Western Bayuda Desert at the End of the 3rd and During the 2nd Millennium BC: Archaeological Heritage), Henryk Paner focusses on various important site clusters that date to the ‘Old Kush’ period. The next section assembles archaeological research about the Wadi Muqaddam. Until now, this wadi was investigated by two survey and excavation projects, whose results are published in this volume. In 1997, Michael Mallinson, Abdelrahman Ali Mohammed, Dorian Fuller and Laurence M. V. Smith (Road Archaeology in the Muqaddam, SARS Survey from Omdurman-Gabolab: Environmental and Cultural Change in the Bayuda) undertook a survey © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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along the Bayuda highway from Omdurman to Gabolab prior to its construction, while Tim Kendalls investigations in 1999–2000 (Archaeological Explorations in the Bayuda Desert: Al-Meragh and the Wadi Muqaddam Between Tamtam and Korti [1999–2000]) were prompted by the discovery of an important settlement site. From their results, it is obvious that the Wadi Muqaddam as the main wadi of the western Bayuda still deserves more attention and that its future exploration will surely adjust and amend our knowledge of the region and its history. In the northwestern Bayuda, another survey was conducted by the National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums, published here by Fawzi Hassan Bakhiet (The Debba-Dam Archaeological Survey Project (DDASP), QSAP: Two Seasons [2013–2014 and 2014–2015]). The question of the ‘King’s Road’ through the Bayuda as well as the eastern Bayuda region is discussed by Madani Mohamed Abualfath Madani (The Exploration of the Coronation Road of Meroe’s Kings Between Meroe and Jebel Barkal). The final section of Part II comprises three investigations about the Palaeolithic: Ahmed Nassr (Regional Diversities of Palaeolithic Stone Tools: Comparative Studies Between the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River, the Bayuda Desert and Central Sudan) presents his investigations about Palaeolithic stone tools in the Bayuda and the Atbara region. Amelia Biegalska, Joanna Chruścicka, Elżbieta Kołosowska, Mirosław Masojć and Aleksandra Pudło (PioneeringArchaeological Observations Made by Klaus-Dieter Meinhold’s Geological Expedition in the Bayuda Desert in 1976–1978) publish the results of a primarily geological but also archaeological survey undertaken 40 years ago. The Palaeolithic in the Bayuda in general is investigated by Mirosław Masojć with a focus on a outstandingly important site (Lithic Materials from a Late Nubian Complex Middle Stone Age Site from the Bayuda Desert: Goat Mountain). Both parts of the present volume – the publication of the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project and the papers of the conference – complement and supplement each other to elucidate the role and importance of the Bayuda for the study of the past in Northeast Africa. We hope that future research will enhance our picture and understanding of this archaeologically rich region.

Bibliography Jesse, F. 2013 Far from the Nile – The Gala Abu Ahmed Fortress in Lower Wadi Howar (Northern Sudan). In: Jesse, F. & Vogel, C. (eds.), The Power of Walls. Fortifications in Ancient Northeastern Africa. Proceedings of the International Workshop held at the University of Cologne 4th–7th August 2011. Colloquium Africanum 5. Köln, 321–352. Manzo, A. 2012 From the Sea to the Deserts and Back: New Research in Eastern Sudan. In: British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 18, 75–106. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/online_journals/bmsaes/issue_18/manzo.aspx (accessed 2017-10-12). Bushara Mohamed, M., Saad Abdalah, M., Elamien Mohammed, S. & Zaki Aldien, M. 2013 Upper Atbara Setiet Dam Archaeological Salvage Project (ASDASP), the Rescue Excavation Results on the Western Bank of the Atbara: Preliminary Report. In: Sudan & Nubia 17, 113–123.

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Gratien, B. 2010 Prospection dans le Kordofan occidental, autour de Zankor et d’Abou Sofyan (2002–2005). In: Godlewski, G. & Łajtar, A. (eds.), Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th Conference of Nubian Studies. Warsaw University, 27 August – 2 September 2006. Part Two: Session Papers. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean Supplement Series 2.2/1. Warsaw, 237–245. Gratien, B., Dissaux, R.-P., Evrard, J., Marchi, S., Nogara, G. & Ishag, E. 2015 Le Kordofan occidental pendant la période méroitique. Prospections à Zankor etAbou Sofyan. In: Zach, M. (ed.), The Kushite World. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Meroitic Studies Vienna, 1–4 September 2008. Beiträge zur Sudanforschung, Beiheft 9, 423–430. McGregor, A. 2011 Palaces in the Mountains: An Introduction to the Archaeological Heritage of the Sultanate of Darfur. In: Sudan & Nubia 15, 129–141.

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© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

Part I: W.A.D.I. Project

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© 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

The Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) Survey Project Tim Karberg & Angelika Lohwasser

Abstract Between 2009 and 2016, the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) project surveyed the Wadi Abu Dom in its entirety and documented 8376 archaeological sites. They range in date from the Palaeolithic until the Islamic Funj period. Vestiges of the Napatan and Meroitic periods that could have been expected in significant numbers due to the neighboring Jebel Barkal region are surprisingly scarce. Based on natural landscape conditions and the archaeological evidence, the Wadi Abu Dom can be divided into three major segments: the lower Wadi Abu Dom, dominated by micro-oases with irrigated fields and large-scale architecture; the middle part with large terrace tumuli and several ridge tumuli cemeteries; and the upper wadi with a generally decreasing density of archaeological sites, but with a surprising amount of Medieval material evidence, including sedentary habitation sites. Remains of ancient traffic infrastructure like pathways and camp structures were found in large quantities. Especially in the lower wadi a rather strict division between ‘land for living’ with irrigation agriculture and ‘land for travelling’ with paths and traces of overnight stops could be observed. Most of these communication routes, however, indicate small-scale mobility patterns. Definite traces of longrange caravan trade are not evident in the archaeological record. The absence of clearly identifiable Napatan or Meroitic material as well as of long-range trade routes therefore raises the question of the integration of the Wadi Abu Dom region into the Kushite state and gives rise to the idea of the existence of a more or less independent cultural complex within the Bayuda. Keywords: Wadi Abu Dom, Archaeological Survey, Post-Meroitic, Medieval, Burials, Camp Sites, Communication, Economy, Wells

1. Introduction The Bayuda is a desert formed by granitic gneisses of the basement complex, mountainous regions of intrusive granites and serpentinites, sandy plateaus, and some wadis which drain the seasonal rainfall into the river Nile. The most prominent wadis within this desert region are the Wadi Muqaddam and the Wadi Abu Dom – the Wadi Muqaddam leading from west of Omdurman in the southern Bayuda to Korti, and the Wadi Abu Dom originating in the central Bayuda, south of the volcanic fields of Ras ed-Dom, and reaching the Nile at the modern city of Merowe. Human occupation over a long time span is traceable here, thanks to the presence of ecologically favored zones in an otherwise harsh desert environment. In 2009, the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project was inaugurated as a first step to investigate this region. In general, we aimed at getting a comprehensive picture of the culture and society of the Wadi Abu Dom in different periods. To achieve this goal, we started with a detailed surface survey aimed at mapping all anthropogenic traces. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Based on this research, further activities are planned.1 The results of the archaeological survey between 2009 and 2016 (Fig. 1) are presented below.

2. Research in the Wadi Abu Dom Before 2009 In the classical sources of Greek and Latin authors, the Bayuda is not mentioned explicitly. Pliny, Bion, and Juba2 mention deserts and nomads, but in most cases, their geographical descriptions generally refer to either the desert between the Nile and the Red Sea or the arid hinterlands on both sides of the Nile in the northern part of the Middle Nile region. Osbert G. S. Crawford (1951: 4) identified the place name Boron3 in the list of Bion4 as a well in the Bayuda, probably the wells of Fura. But this remains a supposition. In fact, the Bayuda came into the focus of travelers and geographers with certainty only at the end of the 17th c. when several European travelers crossed it, providing narratives of their exhausting journeys with personal impressions of the landscape, the inhabitants, and – above all – the difficult and sometimes dangerous circumstances of their journeys. Although archaeological exploration of the Wadi Abu Dom did not begin before the mid-20th c., the monastery of Ghazali was known to 19th c. travelers. Reading these travelers’ accounts, one quickly detects three different routes from Egypt (which was their common starting point) with the destinations Sennar and Kordofan. Using the Nile in Lower Nubia, a caravan route crossed the Nubian Desert from Korosko to Abu Hamed, and then followed the Nile, passing the 5th and 6th Cataracts, as did John Lewis Burckhardt in 1813. Some travelers went along (or on) the Nile for the entire trip, like Fréderic Cailliaud in 1821. Thus these travelers did not touch the Bayuda itself. The second group passed the Bayuda from Korti or Ambukol to a village called Derreira or Triera, located near the 6th Cataract. The northern part of this route led through the Wadi Muqaddam. All travelers taking this route mention Bir Bayuda, a well or station with water on this track. The third group went through the Wadi Abu Dom. The start or end point of their journey was Merowe, while on the other side of the Bayuda, they reached the Nile either in the region of Shendi or of Berber. Only Arthur T. Holroyd used the wadis farther north to cross the Bayuda. He reached the Nile at Ed-Dukayet, north of Nuri.5

2.1 Travelers in the 18th and 19th Centuries using the Southern Passage Although several travelers did not choose the Wadi Abu Dom route, their narratives provide complementary information.The route through theWadi Muqaddam was apparently preferable, 1 2 3 4 5

The next step comprises the excavation of the monumental structures within the Wadi Abu Dom (see chapter 6.3.4.1 in this paper). Work at the complex of El-Tuweina started in 2017. Eide et al. 1998: 804–809. Here and in the following paragraphs, italics are used when geographical and other proper names are spelled according to their use within the cited works. List of Bion in Pliny, Naturalis Historia 6.178. See Eide et al. 1996: 553–554 for the text and translation. There is, however, no location suggested for Boron there (Eide et al. 1996: 557). Holroyd 1839: 188.

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Fig. 1:

Distribution of major and other archaeological sites within the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA). Squares indicate monumental architectural structures; small dots represent surveyed site.

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since more travelers chose it instead of the Wadi Abu Dom. This coincides with the use of the Wadi Muqaddam as a caravan route in the Middle Ages.6 Holroyd, who crossed the Bayuda twice and used the Wadi Muqaddam for his first trip and, most probably, Wadi Dishora and Wadi el-Argu for the second, commented: “Of all the journeys I have made, this desert is the most wild, arid, comfortless, and uninteresting; and I should strongly recommend future travellers to take the line from El Metemmeh to Jebel Berkel in preference to that of Berber.”7 Charles-Jacques Poncet (1655–1796), a French pharmacologist, crossed the Bayuda in 1698 to meet the king of Ethiopia. Although his reference to the Bayuda is very short – he wrote only that he went from Korti through the Bihouda, passing to Derreira – we learn that it is “not to cross in less than five days.”8 Soon afterwards, Theodor Krump (1672–1724), a Bavarian missionary, traveled from Cairo to Sennar. He left Korti on March 30th 1701, and reached Triera on April 9th. He mentions only one well, named Baiuda, where the caravans took water.9 When several years later he crossed the Bayuda once more on his return journey, he chose the same route, again mentioning Baiuda, on August 10th 1710: “auf Baiuda (das ist der Ort/allwo man Wasser findet) glücklich angelangt.”10 On August 15th, he finally reached Korti (Curti). We are unaware of other travelers of the 18th c. who might have left accounts of their crossing the Bayuda. In the first half of the 19th c., several western adventurers and scholars, supported by the Khedive Muhammad Ali Pasha, traveled through the Sudan.11 In 1820, the American diplomat George B. English (1787–1828) crossed the Bayuda. In his travel log, he did not register names of villages; thus his route is not clear. Since he mentions only a single well on his trip, it might be one of the Bayuda wells on the Muqaddam route.12 The German zoologist Eduard W. P. S. Rüppell (1794–1884) travelled from Cairo to Kordofan, passing Dongola and crossing the Beheda or Bejuda twice. In 1823, he started from Ambukol to Gurkab and visited the natural pools of Geckdond (Jackdool).13 Although he documented mainly the geology and topography of the region, he was also interested in ancient sites, and so he asked the locals about them. At a place called Wadi Mogattem near the well Gummer, he described the ruins of two ancient sites with hewn blocks, inscribed and decorated with reliefs.14 It is noteworthy that he mentioned Geckdud (sic) as the crossing point of the route from Ambukol to Matemma with the route from Kurgus to Jebel Barkal.15 In 1834, the French explorer Edmond Combes (1812–1848) journeyed from Ambukol through the Bayuda. He described the oasis d’Béyouda as the only source of water in this 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15

Mallinson 2004: 351–352; see also Mallinson et al. in this volume. Holroyd 1837: 188. Poncet 1709: 15. Krump 1710: 256–261. Krump 1710: 370. Rüppell, who visited Egypt for the first time in 1817, wrote: “Man konnte damals schon diese früherhin so unwirthbaren Provinzen mit der größten Sicherheit besuchen; die energische Regierung Mehemet Ali Pascha’s war consolidirt und gewährte dem mit wissenschaftlichen Zwecken oder auch nur aus allgemeiner Wissbegierde reisenden Europäer jede erwünschte Begünstigung.” (Rüppell 1829: 2). English 1822: 102. Rüppell 1829: 100. Rüppell 1829: 100. Likewise, he mentions that locals reported Christian monasteries and settlements. Rüppell 1829: 105.

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desert.16 On December 30th 1847, the Austrian consul and explorer Johann Wilhelm von Müller (1824–1866) passed by the Bir Bahiuda. An engraving of the impression it made on him was later published in his travel account.17 In 1860, Robert Hartmann (1831–1893), a German natural scientist, went from Ed-Debba to Khartoum via the Wadi Muqaddam. In his account of his travels Hartmann mentioned several wells, among them Bir-el-Kufrieh, Bir-elHegelig, and Bir-el-Qomr.18 Moreover, he reported the presence of ancient buildings: “Auch erzählte man uns hier von Alterthümern, ‘Biüt-qadimin – alten Häusern –’ welche in den Gebäl-el-Ardah und El-Qomr, auch in den östlichen Bergen dieser Region, zerstreut lägen. Der Beschreibung unserer Leute und anderer, darüber befragter Eingeborener zufolge, scheinen dies die Trümmer roh aufgebauter, steinerner Mauern zu sein, ähnlich der aus Brauneisenstein errichteten Umfassungsmauer des alten Brunnen zu Bir-el-Kufrieh.”19

2.2 Travelers of the 18th and 19th Centuries Crossing the Wadi Abu Dom Most of the Western scientists and adventurers took the route through the Wadi Muqaddam, the more prominent caravan track in those days. Nevertheless, there were some travelers who made their way through the Wadi Abu Dom. On March 14th 1833, George A. Hoskins (1802–1863), British artist and traveler, started in the south on a journey through the Bahiouda where he encountered several wells, including a cistern, filled with green water below an overhang – most probably Jackdool.20 On March 21st, he arrived at the well Hennek and camped “near another source of rain water, called Prasoli. There are about twenty houses …”21 The following day, he reached the Nile, while some hours earlier he had passed “some fine ruins of a large Coptic church.”22 The mention of Hannik and the Coptic church (= Ghazali) shows that he definitely used the Wadi Abu Dom for the second part of his route through the Bayuda. In 1837, the German traveler and adventurer Hermann von Pückler-Muskau stayed at Jebel Barkal for a while, crossed the Nile, and made his way through the Bayuda. His route is difficult to reconstruct, since he stated that although he wanted to see Ghazali, he refrained from doing so, since he feared he might lose his way.23 He described the landscape as a green valley with many wells, using the spelling Beheda for the region.24 Although he did not start in the Wadi Abu Dom, he may have reached it at some point. Furthermore, after mentioning a well Magaga, he visited Jackdull.25 The Geologist Joseph Russegger (1802–1863) was invited to the Sudan to explore its mineral resources. His extensive report describes the geological and mountainous character 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Combes 1846: 73. Müller 151: 69, and engraving after 70. Hartmann 1863: 247, 257 & 262. Hartmann 1863: 253. Hoskins 1835: 128–129. Hoskins 1835: 132. Hoskins 1835: 132. Pückler 1985: 542; Lohwasser 2017: 45. Pückler 1985: 549. Pückler 1985: 550.

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of the entire region. In his report the Bayuda is frequently mentioned, since the volcanic mountains and the geological formation of the bed rock challenged him as a scientist.26 His map of the Bayuda remained the most precise cartographical rendering of this area until more recent times. He was not interested in ancient sites, but rather presented a vivid picture of the landscape. His map of physical features is full of information about the Wadi Abu Dom; it also records the names of mountains and wells.27 Based on this map it can be deduced that he traveled through the Bayuda from Metemma to Gekdul and entered the Wadi Abu Dom in the mountains of Magaga. He followed the Wadi Abu Dom, since he mentions Bir Meroe, Bir Hannig, and a well at the Djebel Omseala (which might be modern Umm Ruweim) and indicated the existence of a “ruin” near Djebel el Gazal – which is the church and monastery of Ghazali. The German Egyptologist and antiquarian Carl Richard Lepsius (1810–1884) led the Prussian expedition to Egypt and Ethiopia (1842–1845). From Egypt, he went to Lower Nubia, and from Korosko he took the desert route toAbu Hamed. On the return journey northwards, he started from Meroe to the west on April 29th 1844, going through the Bayuda. The expedition approached the mountains of Gilif and turned into the Wadi Abu Dom.28 He mentioned the well of Meroe in the Wadi Abu Dom – today Bir Merwa on the asphalt road from Atbara to Tanqasi.29 Lepsius developed the idea that since the mouth of the Wadi Abu Dom is situated exactly opposite the mouth of the Atbara River, it might have been an ancient branch of the Nile, running directly east to west through the Bayuda in former times.30 Finally, he arrived in Wadi Ghazal, where his team made drawings and plans of the church and monastery.31 James Bayard Taylor (1825–1878), an American diplomat, crossed the Bayuda on his way back to the north. Passing Bir Djeekdud and Bir Abu-Seray, he turned into the Wadi Abu Dom.32 He described the wadi’s abundant vegetation; meeting a caravan of about 300 camels near Bir Khannik, he observed the procedure of watering the camels.33 In the evening of the next day, he arrived at a Coptic monastery, and the day after that – nine days after his departure from Metemma – at the Nile.34

2.3 The Bayuda During the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Albert E. W. Gleichen (1863–1937) served in the Guards Camel Corps in the Sudan campaign of 1884–85 and with the Egyptian army in the Dongola campaign in 1896. He edited a compendium with information about the resources, development, administration, etc. of the Sudan.35 The chapters were compiled by various officers of the Sudan Administration and 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

Russegger 1841: 49. The names of the modern wells are recorded in Eigner 2016. Lepsius 1852: 227. Lepsius 1852: 232. Lepsius 1852: 233. Published in LD I: 131; LD VI: 99; LDT V: 291–292. Taylor 1856: 413–414 . Taylor 1856: 417. Taylor 1856: 418–419. Gleichen 1905, I: 2.

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organized in three parts – one on geography, another on history, and a third with descriptions of routes. In the geographical section there is a general introduction concerning the inhabitants and topographical situation.36 As for routes through the Bayuda, nine different possibilities are listed.37 We learn that the route from Ambukol and Merowe to Shendi or Metemma was little used in Gleichen’s days. The route from Merowe to Berber via the Sani wells is “a good deal used” – which is in contrast to the routes of the 18th and 19th c. In part two of the compendium, the itineraries of various expeditions are presented. In August 1898, Major M. G. Talbot crossed the Bayuda from Merowe to Jackdool.38 He recorded the track from Merowe to Ghazali and mentions several wells with good water and a small garden. Further along the track to Hannek, he recorded the Umm Sayala wells, located in the vicinity of Umm Ruweim. The two wells of Hannek had sufficient water. Especially the well of El Tawila is reported to have plenty of water for horses and camels. Bir Tueina and the wells at Kalas are referred to as the last in the Wadi Abu Dom before entering Wadi Magaga.39 The usefulness of this compendium for an investigation of the Wadi Abu Dom lies especially in the evaluation of the wells and the description of the topography, although no archaeological sites – not even Ghazali – are mentioned. In 1910, the British architect and archaeologist George Somers Clarke (1841–1926) traveled through Egypt and Sudan to document Christian antiquities. He visited Ghazali and described the site, mentioning the abundance of water and vegetation in this valley.40 In 1954, the Commissioner of Antiquities in Sudan, Neville H. Chittick (1924–1984) and the archaeologist Peter L. Shinnie (1915–2007) crossed the Bayuda, coming from Shendi. They were the first to mention the structures of Umm Ruweim, Quweib, and Umm Khafour, for which they published sketch plans.41 Moreover, they discussed the possible function(s) of these structures and concluded that it is unlikely they had been caravanserais, since all are clustered in one region. They hypothesized that the structures may have served as hydreumata (i.e. fortified well stations). Chittick and Shinnie also mention several box grave and tumuli cemeteries in the Wadi Abu Dom. Shortly after their journey, Shinnie excavated the church and some rooms of the monastery of Ghazali.42

2.4 Archaeological Investigations in the Wadi Abu Dom in the Later 20th Century During Friedrich Hinkel’s work on the Archaeological Map of the Sudan, he visited Umm Ruweim, Umm Khafour, Quweib, and Umm Beida in the lower Wadi Abu Dom and took several photos documenting the condition of the sites. Hinkel also recorded a cemetery with box graves and few small tumuli at Wadi Nishki near the southern bank of the Wadi Abu Dom.43 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

Gleichen 1905, I: 207. Gleichen 1905, I: 208. Gleichen 1905, II: 179. Gleichen 1905, II: 180. Clarke 1912: 38–42. Chittick 1955. Shinnie & Chittick 1961. His documentation, archived at the Friedrich-Hinkel-Forschungszentrum, German Archaeological Institute, Berlin, has not yet been published.

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In 1989, participants in a field school for Sudanese archaeologists affiliated with NCAM and SFDAS excavated one tumulus near Umm Ruweim.44 Since the tumulus was devoid of finds, no further interpretations were possible. The French archaeologist Patrice Lenoble (1942–2007) who was associated with this field school drew a plan of the structure of Umm Ruweim 1, which was much more accurate than the sketch plan of Chittick and Shinnie.45 The twins Angelo and Alfredo (1937–2016) Castiglioni undertook a reconnaissance trip through the Bayuda in 2001.46 They visited Fura and Jackdool and headed for the volcanic region in the central Bayuda. The final segment of their trip took them through the Wadi Abu Dom, and they made some suggestions about the function of the structures of Umm Ruweim and Quweib.47 In 2009, Henryk Paner started the Gdansk Archaeological Museum Expedition (GAME) reconnaissance survey.48 The aim of the project to record all major sites of the Bayuda included the larger sites in the Wadi Abu Dom – Ghazali, Umm Ruweim, Quweib and the extended tumulus cemeteries in the middle Wadi Abu Dom.49

2.5 The Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) Project Since 2009, the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project has been conducting a detailed survey, tracing evidence for human activity from the mouth of the Wadi Abu Dom to its source. The survey was envisaged to answer three key questions: – Are there any identifiable remains of a trade route, especially of the Napatan and Meroitic period? The Wadi Abu Dom seems to be a suitable trade route with an easily passable track and the presence and accessibility of water. Goods from the Red Sea and the Butana (or even from further south) reached the region of Napata/Jebel Barkal in abundance. The so-called ‘Treasury’ in Sanam, at the mouth of the Wadi Abu Dom, was the trade collection point for luxury goods and exotic raw materials.50 Several objects made of precious materials being part of the long distance trade network were found in the royal tombs at Nuri, some even in the middle-class cemetery of Sanam.51 Therefore, the existence of a long-distance trade route through the Wadi Abu Dom seems plausible. – If this trade route existed, did it also serve as the so-called ‘King’s Road’? Since the King of Kush had his residence in Meroe (Begrawiya) but was crowned in the Amun Temple at Jebel Barkal, he had to make the trip from Meroe to Napata at the beginning of his reign. And since in the earlier (Napatan) period the kings were buried in Nuri, each king had to 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

El-Nur & Bandi 1994. Lenoble 2004: 194, Fig. 9. Negro et al. 2006. Negro et al. 2006: 416–417. See Paner & Pudło 2010, and Paner in this volume. We want to thank Henryk Paner for sharing his data collected in the Wadi Abu Dom in 2009 in a most cooperative and collegial manner. Paner & Pudło 2010. Vincentelli 2011; Lohwasser 2012: 310. Lohwasser 2012: 310–312.

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undertake this journey again after his death. The difficulties posed by a journey on the Nile between the 5th Cataract and Napata has led to the assumption that this trip was overland, crossing the Bayuda.52 Traces of such repeated journeys of the Kings of Kush – with their entourage, priests, military escort, etc. – should have left some traces in the archaeological record. – Since the Wadi Abu Dom was never investigated archaeologically, we planned to establish an archaeological map, ideally including all traces of human activity, to provide a basis for further research. Emerging from the questions about the long distance trade route and the ‘King’s Road’, the organization of travel in general and the network of communication lines within this currently arid landscape were also among our main interests. That led to the decision to focus on land use in general, posing questions about which parts of the wadi’s banks were used for (elite and non-elite) settlement, cultivation, grazing, burials, traveling, representation, and religious purposes. To acquire data essential for any attempt to answer these questions, the project Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) was inaugurated in 2009. The concession for the Wadi Abu Dom was granted by the National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums (NCAM) under the direction of Hassan Hussein Idris and annually extended under the direction of Abdelrahman Ali.53 The initial season was made possible by a grant from the Gerda-Henkel-Stiftung; thereafter funding was provided by the German Research Foundation. Since 2013, the project was included among the Qatar-Sudan-Archaeological Projects and received supplementary funding from the Qatar Museums Authorities.54 Specific sub-projects – first of all, the architectural documentation of the main structures in the Wadi Abu Dom (Umm Ruweim, Quweib, Umm Khafour, and El-Tuweina, as well as Khor Shingawi55 north of the Wadi Abu Dom) – were funded by the Preservation Program of the German Federal Foreign Office and The Michela Schiff-Giorgini Foundation.56 The host institutions for the W.A.D.I. project were the Free University Berlin in 2009 and from 2010 on, the University of Münster (Germany).57 As cooperation partner, the University of Cologne (Forschungsstelle Afrika) provided us with their desert-proof cars and other useful equipment.58

52 53 54 55 56 57 58

Lohwasser 2009: 103–105. We want to thank the directors as well as the staff of NCAM for all their help and support for this project. The research undertaken with the QMA funding is published in three articles in this volume, see Eger & Kołosowska, Beuger, and Jugert et al. We are much obliged to Henryk Paner for allowing us to undertake the architectural documentation of the structure of Khor Shingawi, which is situated in his concession area. See the publication in Eigner & Karberg 2014. We are very grateful to all these institutions for their financial support. Reports on these sub-projects have already been published: Eigner & Karberg 2011; 2012; 2013. For all administrative support, we extend our heartfelt thanks to the secretary of the Institute of Egyptology and Coptology of Münster University, Andrea Beermann, as well as to the general administrator Petra Miech. Sincerest thanks to Hans-Peter Wotzka and Friederike Jesse. Since a survey in a desert relies on durable automobiles in good conditions, we are very grateful that Rayk Lange maintained them regularly. He received support from Peter Röhl, Andreas Willmy, and Franco Böhme.

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There were three permanent team members for all eight campaigns:59 Tim Karberg, field director Angelika Lohwasser, project director Mohammed Eltoum Mohammed Fadlelmola, archaeologist and NCAM inspector, and several specialists during one or more field campaigns:60 Jana Helmbold-Doyé, ceramicist Dieter Eigner, architect Baldur Gabriel, geographer and prehistorian Jana Eger, archaeologist Manuel Fiedler, archaeologist Andrè Beuger, archaeologist Elzbieta Kołosowska, archaeologist Friederike Jugert, physical anthropologist Theresa Klatt, physical anthropologist Ercan Erkul, geophysicist Harriet Berkhahn, geographer Johannes Auenmüller, photographer Loai Shamsalola, archaeologist and deputy NCAM inspector Abd el Rauf, archaeologist and deputy NCAM inspector as well as more than 20 students from different universities.61

3. Topography of the Wadi Abu Dom The source of the Wadi Abu Dom is in the central Bayuda, in the southern part of the Bayuda Volcanic Field. The mountain range, where the dendritic branches of the wadi are found, is called Ras ed-Dom, “Head of the [Wadi Abu] Dom”, hinting at its function as catchment area and source of the wadi (Fig. 2). The wadi’s course then curves around the eastern and southern pediments of Jebel Sultaniya and Jebel Musran with wide plains to the east and south (Fig. 3), and runs in a westerly direction to the Bir Merwa, today an ecologically favored zone with a high level of ground water, relatively dense vegetation, and cultivated areas with some sedentary population. The region is defined by wells that are also used by people living quite far away (Fig. 4), and a generally high groundwater level. 59 60 61

Preliminary season 24.2.–16.3.2009; two short campaigns 23.2.–15.3. 2010, 28.2.–21.3.2011; five long campaigns since 2012 (14.1.–18.3.2012; 25.1.–16.3.2013; 18.1.–16.3.2014; 13.1.–17.3.2015; 20.1.– 17.3.2016). We want to express our appreciation to all team members – specialists and students alike – for their enthusiastic engagement. Wienke Aufderhaar, Carina Beckmann, Anna Casciello, Anne Grons, Tim Eggert, Kathrin Glosauer, Laura Haupt, Christopher Hentzelt, Bahar Kiyan, Charlotte Krekeler, Modather Abdalla Jadain, Nina Overesch, Julia Petereit, Malte Rosenberger, Nora Schäfer, Lars Schöne, Sarah Schlüter, Kevin Sieger, Ibrahim Mohammed Ahmed Ali, Janine Traber, Jalina Tschernig, Christiane Weber, Sandrina Wilms, and Inga Wopke.

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Fig. 2:

General topography of the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/ Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

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Fig. 3:

The upper Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 4:

Bir Tawil with herders watering their livestock (photo W.A.D.I.).

Two ridges of granitic gneisses are located some kilometres downstream from Bir Merwa; as natural subterranean barrages they create a high ground water aquifer level below the wadi bed. Downstream of the catchment areas at Jebels Sultaniya and Musran, the ground water level rises to make this zone relatively fertile, in comparison to the areas further up- and downstream of the wadi’s course. Today, a recent (above ground) water-harvesting dam, erected at the southern ridge, allows for seasonal farming (Fig. 5). The general density of sites and the location of the structure of El-Tuweina in this very region suggest that this was an equally favored zone in antiquity, even without any trace of ancient water harvesting installations. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Recent seasonal farming near Bir Merwa (photo W.A.D.I.).

After passing the Bir Merwa region, the course of the Wadi Abu Dom runs in a north-westerly direction, following the eastern flank of Jebel Barur and turning westward behind the mouth of its major tributary, Wadi Dejamon, at Umm Beida. The final segment runs westward, passing Umm Ruweim and Ghazali, to meet the Nile opposite Jebel Barkal. Irrigation schemes and modern construction projects have substantially altered the region at the mouth of the Wadi Abu Dom in recent times. At the beginning of our project, we divided the Wadi Abu Dom into three parts simply for practical and logistic reasons. We designated the region between the mouth and the bend at Umm Beida ‘lower Wadi Abu Dom’, followed by the ‘middle Wadi Abu Dom’ that stretches to the region of Bir Merwa, and the ‘upper Wadi Abu Dom’, which extends up to the dendritic branches at its source. The results of the survey confirmed that these three regions indeed differ significantly in character and distribution of archaeological sites, as well as in their natural landscape and settlement structure in antiquity. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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The bed of the lower wadi cuts through rocky terrain and is characterized by high groundwater level, several wells, and the two micro-oases of Ghazali and El-Rum (the latter between the ancient structures of Umm Ruweim and Quweib) where the sedentary population cultivates dates and vegetables down to the present (Fig. 6). All elaborate structures built in the Wadi Abu Dom – except at El-Tuweina – are concentrated around these two micro-oases. Above Umm Beida, the middle wadi is wider and flatter, except for a few ridges and the isolated rocky area of Jebel Barur. This mountain functions as a local catchment area, and prevents sporadic rainfall from percolating, draining it away eastwards towards the wadi. This favors the ecological character of that part of the wadi directly adjacent and immediately downstream from Jebel Barur. Roughly 20 km upstream from Jebel Barur, there are two ridges of granitic gneisses. Since they dam up the underground aquifers and thus raise the ground water level, it is possible to dig wells immediately upstream, at Bir Hannik in the region of the northern ridge, and at Bir Merwa in the southern region. These wells result in making the Bir Merwa region and – to a much lesser degree – the area around Bir Hannik ecologically favored zones. East of Bir Merwa, the upper wadi begins where the general character of the landscape changes significantly. Only a few small wells are found here, indicating that this area is, to a lesser degree, characterized by underground aquifers. The number of acacia trees and the amount of tundub (Capparis decidua) vegetation decreases, in comparison to the middle Wadi Abu Dom. The landscape is much more dominated by rain-fed surface water than in the other parts of the wadi, as closed vegetation covers in more humid years indicate. North of the wadi bed, there are the Jebels Sultaniya and Musran with the source of the wadi in the Jebel Ras ed-Dom area. South and east of the wadi, the topography is flat. The schematic cross sections through the wadi bed as well as different adjacent terraces published by Holger Pflaumbaum in 1987 are essentially uniform in all parts of the wadi,

Fig. 6:

The oasis of El-Rum in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

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although the width of the valley itself differs.62 In the wadi bed, that is characterized by alluvial sand accumulations where surface water flows in wet and rainy summers even today, no archaeological remains are visible except the wells. In analogy with contemporaneous usage, we assume that people also settled in the wadi bed itself, but regular flooding has altered and eventually destroyed these structures and other evidence of habitation completely, while on the wadi banks they still exist. The historic wells show modern restorations in the uppermost layers of their lining, since it is the lining which surface water damages more or less regularly. Moreover, in most cases only temporary settlements are situated in the wadi bed today, built of vegetal and other organic material. Archaeological remains are concentrated on the terraces of the banks of the main wadi, as well as on those of its tributaries, the khors. In the hilly hinterland, away from the direct influence of the wadi’s surface water, there are again several archaeological find spots, but they are less dense than along the wadi’s banks.

4. The Wadi Abu Dom Cultural Sequence in Internal and External Chronology During our survey project, we were always faced with the challenging task of attributing the different archaeological features to chronological phases. At first, we used the terms ‘(rural) Kerma’,63 ‘(rural) Meroitic and Post-Meroitic’,64 as well as ‘Christian Medieval’, in correspondence with the terminology used by most 4th Cataract archaeological projects. These designations were also employed in the preliminary reports of the survey.65 In the course of analyzing the archaeological material from the survey, it turned out that these terms were inappropriate for several reasons. On the one hand, a number of aspects of the material culture of the wadi did not have exact parallels in regions of the Nile Valley and, furthermore, many chronological categories remain unclear – especially the so-called ‘local Kerma variant’ and the ‘local Post-Meroitic culture’, and their relationships to the Napatan and Meroitic periods. It emerged very clearly that many of these cultural terms established for Nile Valley and Keraba/Butana cultural complexes are not applicable in the central Bayuda, which may well have formed a cultural complex of its very own (cf. chapter 8.4). On the other hand, the internal chronological sequence is rather clear, at least for some aspects of the wadi’s material culture – the burials in particular. Three phases are clearly distinguishable structurally as well as chronologically: the primarily small tumuli and other burial installations on top of ridges and other rocky surfaces in which it was not possible to dig substructures (traditionally labelled ‘Kerma style’); the large, flat tumuli erected on the wadi and khor terraces (traditionally labelled ‘Post-Meroitic’); and the box graves of the Medieval period. For this reason, we decided to abandon the (sometimes misleading) terminology which had been developed for the cultures of the Nile Valley and to define a ‘Ridge Tumuli Period’, a ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’, and a ‘Box Grave Period’, simply with reference to the sequence of types, without chronological connotations. 62 63 64 65

Pflaumbaum 1987: 33–34. For the applicability of the terms ‘Kerma’ or ‘Old Kush’ in the Wadi Abu Dom cf. Lohwasser 2009: 107–108. For a definition of the term ‘rural Meroitic‘ cf. Lohwasser 2011: 67. Lohwasser 2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; Lohwasser & Karberg 2013; 2014; Lohwasser et al. 2014; 2015; 2016.

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5. Methods and Technical Aspects The aim of the preliminary campaign (2009) was to explore the hinterland of Sanam Abu Dom, since at Sanam the ‘Treasury’, an ancient royal collection point, is known.66 We planned to start at Sanam to survey the presumed trading route via the Wadi Abu Dom. But when we arrived at Sanam, we discovered that the last 5–6 km of the WadiAbu Dom did not conform at all to the impression gained from the aerial images of 2006 (the latest available from Google Earth during the planning stages of the project). This stretch of the wadi had been completely modified by a huge cultivation project and by the construction of a transformer station. This meant that we could start the survey only at 18°27’00’’N 31°53’50’’E. After eight field campaigns, we finally arrived at 18°11’28’’N 32°58’11’’E. The intensive survey in the lower Wadi Abu Dom as well as in the northern part of the middle section was conducted by foot. Between 18°12’11’’N 32°18’04’’E and 18°06’25’’N 32°27’19’’E, pictures taken by a low altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) were used. Their 10 x 10 cm-per-pixel resolution enabled the identification of most archaeological features from the aerial images alone. The results of some exemplary remote sensing data analyses were verifiable on the ground, but some other areas of the survey could only be covered by aerial reconnaissance. Survey by foot was conducted as far as 18°02’07’’N 32°52’29’’E, the terminus of our continuous survey. Two specific regions were chosen for punctual surveys: the area around 18°02’37’’N 32°56’07’’E at the eastern flank of the Jebel Sultaniya, because satellite imagery revealed traces of larger amounts of surface water in rainy years; and the region around 18°11’28’’N 32°58’11’’E, as an example of conditions in one of the dendritic branches of the wadi.

5.1 Remote Sensing From the very beginning of the project, remote sensing played an important role.67 Every field campaign was prepared using different remote sensing technologies and data categories. The most important remote sensing data source for archaeological fieldwork in the Wadi Abu Dom are satellite images. The online platforms Google Earth (Fig. 7), MicrosoftBing, and NASA WorldWind cover the Wadi Abu Dom in its entirety with satellite images, available free of charge for academic purposes, rendering cost-intensive purchase of commercial satellite data superfluous. The satellite images provided by these online platforms differ in their resolutions: Parts of the concession area are covered by images available from Quickbird and WorldView – satellites commercially operated by the private company DigitalGlobe – with a maximum resolution of 60 x 60 cm (Quickbird) or 50 x 50 cm (WorldView) per pixel. For some parts of the Wadi Abu Dom, where images from DigitalGlobe were unavailable, images of the satellite SPOT (Satellite pour l’observation de terre), operated by the French space agency CNES, were used, providing a maximum resolution of 120 x 120 cm per pixel. In all cases, we relied upon panchromatic versions of the satellite images. Images taken by the satellite Landsat 7 – even despite the fact that they were available in infrared and other multispectral variants – were of little use due to their coarse resolution. Since the main areas 66 67

Vincentelli 2011; Lohwasser 2012: 310. Gabriel & Lohwasser 2010: 51.

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Fig. 7:

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Screenshot from Google Earth showing the Umm Ruweim area (© Google).

of archaeological interest – the terraced banks of the main wadi and its side khors – do not show any significant vegetation during the year, infrared images provide no advantage over panchromatic images. Within the wadi bed, where agriculture and natural vegetation varies throughout the year, only very few archaeological structures survive since flooding of the wadi during more humid rainy seasons caused quite extensive erosion over the centuries. Larger structures such as monumental architecture or tumulus graves are clearly recognizable in many cases, but smaller structures such as box graves are often not precisely distinguishable, due to the comparatively low resolution of the satellite images. Nevertheless, satellite data analysis proved to be a useful tool when preparing for archaeological field work. Even though ground survey was obviously irreplaceable, satellite imagery augmented it and was doubly welcome as a time-saver.68 Since the resolution of SPOT images proved to be insufficient for providing reliable archaeological data in many cases, some areas in the middle Wadi Abu Dom not covered by Quickbird or WorldView were remotely photographed from an UAV in 2015.69 The panchromatic images were taken by the SUSI platform (operated by Thamm Geosystems). The resolution is up to 10 x 10 cm per pixel, which allows for a more advanced data analysis than possible from satellite imagery alone. Small structures like features of camp sites or (even eroded) box graves are clearly distinguishable at such a high resolution. Additionally, historical aerial images in the archive of the Sudan Survey Office were used.70

68 69 70

Eger forthc. Lohwasser et al. 2015: 110. Lohwasser et al. 2014: 177.

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5.2 Fieldwork The area of investigation was surveyed on foot within pre-defined segments. Our main tools were programmable Trimble GPS devices equipped with the mobile GIS ArcPad software (Fig. 8), a special version developed and programmed according to the specific needs of the project by a team of the Institute of Geoinformatics of the University of Münster under the direction of Torsten Prinz.71 The program was adapted and, after the first two seasons of field evaluation, further developed in accordance with our experiences during the survey.72 We collected the GIS-conformed data directly in the field (Fig. 9) while the software enabled us to integrate pictures and sketches directly into the attributed structure of the geo-referenced data. Each survey team comprised of two persons, one culling and entering geo-data (Fig. 10), while the other documented the sites with photographs and took samples of surface finds. Up to six parallel teams worked simultaneously in the field. A check with a stationary GIS was made daily. Mobile GIS-based data entry significantly accelerated the speed of the survey, and the standardized thesaurus of entries facilitated statistical analyses. Nevertheless, some problematic aspects should not go unmentioned. In particular, subjective decisions of each survey team during the three different data acquisition steps can (and did) lead to some aberrations in the overall picture. First, the decision whether a specific spot deserved to be considered a site – and consequentially included in the database – was on occasion not easy. The majority of anthropogenic features in the wadi are agglomerations of just a few stones. Although they do not show any structure, nor yield finds and can therefore not be dated, they have been

Fig. 8:

71 72

Trimble Juno, a programmable GPS device with customized ArcPad software (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 9:

Screenshot of the customized ArcPad software window: Data acquisition using thesaurus-based drop down menus (screenshot W.A.D.I.).

Rosenberger 2011. Rohrbach 2012.

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included in the database, especially by unexperienced team members. During the survey, with increasing expertise, the tendency to include such features decreases: not every agglomeration, but only larger or more structured ones are inserted. We triedtoimprovetheinternalcoherence of these specific data in order to compensate for such heterogenities within the data collection during post-processing. Nevertheless, all such data, once documented, were integrated into the GIS: every inserted site was given a number. Fig. 10: Data acquisition in the field using a Trimble Juno device (photo W.A.D.I.). Secondly, the dimensions of a site are sometimes difficult to determine – if at all. Cemeteries and settlements have quite clear and distinct boundaries, but the borders of a camp site were in several instances unclear – is there one large or several small campsites with indistinct fringes? Finally, in some cases the assignment of a site to a specific category is difficult. Although working with a thesaurus with definitions of possible site categories, the choice is a subjective decision made by each team. Features that may appear unclear, such as very disturbed cleft burials or deposits, or eroded gravel features, should nevertheless be assigned to a specific category. Although it is possible to designate a feature as ‘uncertain’ in the appropriate field, such sites are attributed to a specified category for the purpose of statistical analysis. In the post-processing phase, it has thus been necessary to exclude these entries so as to avoid distorting the picture too much. We make a clear distinction between ‘site’and ‘feature’: a site is an area with anthropogenic remains, a feature is the single spot within such a site. Therefore, e.g., a cemetery consisting of several tombs is integrated in the database as site, while the tombs are distinguished as the individual features of the site. In many cases, a site also consists of one feature only, such as a stone ring in an otherwise empty area. During the surface survey, we conducted geophysical prospection, along with small-scale cleaning sondages, the former in cooperation with a team from the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Kiel73 which worked with geomagnetic sensors as well as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) (Fig. 11). Geomagnetic devices turned out to be not very suitable for the soil conditions of the Wadi Abu Dom, but especially in areas with some degree of sedimentation (for example, inside large buildings) deployment of GPR yielded precise information (Fig. 12). At the beginning of the work, we had hoped geomagnetic methods would reveal hearths and ash concentrations at ancient camp sites. However, the results of the geomagnetic survey did not show significant structures. Moreover, ash concentrations documented by excavation at one camp site (cf. chapter 6.3.1) could not be connected to any pattern visible on the magnetogram made previously of the same locus. 73

Erkul et al. 2012.

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Fig. 11: Prospection at Umm Ruweim 1 with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 12: GPR results at Umm Ruweim 2 (imaging and illustration E. Ercul).

While the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project was essentially a surface survey, small-scale invasive soundings (Fig. 13) were necessary to clarify some uncertain archaeological vestiges. At four cemeteries in the vicinity of Bir Merwa, structures from the ‘Ridge Tumulus’, the ‘Terrace Tumulus’, and the ‘Box Grave Period’ were investigated.74 Architectural soundings and surveys were conducted at the five large elaborate buildings in the wadi.75 Additionally, two camp sites, six round hut habitation structures of different periods, three gravel platforms,76 74 75 76

Cf. Eger & Kołosowska in this volume. Cf. Eigner in this volume. Cf. Tschernig & Shamsalola in this volume.

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23 Fig. 13: Soundings of selected archaeological features in the Wadi Abu Dom in 2015 and 2016 (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary Survey Project

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and five paved platforms were investigated. At the Bir Merwa cemeteries, selected tumuli and some box graves were completely excavated. Within the large stone buildings, punctual soundings were undertaken, primarily to determine the depth of the foundations for the walls. Small finds and samples were collected from the trenches. Surface clearing was carried out primarily within the round hut habitation sites, the camp sites, and the platforms, since there was little accumulated and stratified soil. It proved adequate to clear the surrounding surface to a depth of at most only 5 to 10 cm; the invasive soundings were carried out simply to clear the disturbed ground close to the surface resulting from abrasive erosion, in order to determine surface structure. Accumulations of ash and other deposits located near the actual ground surface could be documented clearly. Deeper soundings at the terrace surfaces were neither necessary nor useful, for no soil material had accumulated there.

5.3 Post-Processing After the annual fieldwork campaigns, the georeferenced data recorded were further processed and analyzed by means of a Geographical Information System (GIS). For the visualization of the data and their comparison with the material from other projects, a browser-based web-GIS was programmed by researches and students of the Institute for Geoinformatics of Münster University77 and adapted to meet the requirements of different archaeological projects78 so as to simplify comparison of data (Fig. 14).79

Fig. 14: Post-processing, sharing and publishing GIS-based raw data in a browser-based webGIS (screenshot W.A.D.I.). 77 78 79

Warrlich 2012. Prinz et al. 2014. For a general description of the WebGIS, cf. Beuger in this volume.

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Fig.15: Palaeolithic sites in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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The ceramic material collected on the surface and from the soundings was documented and a preliminary catalogue of forms and fabrics was composed. However, research on the ceramics of the Wadi Abu Dom (and the Bayuda in general) is still in its infancy. Cooperations with other projects working in and around the Bayuda are crucial (and planned for the near future) to standardize the form and fabric terminology and descriptions of the ceramics. Lithic finds (Palaeolithic as well as Neolithic) have been documented so far only photographically. Further analysis of this corpus is planned for the future.

6. Categories of Archaeological Features and Finds 6.1 Palaeolithic Palaeolithic sites are found only sporadically in the Wadi Abu Dom. Most could be located through surface finds of lithic tools attributable to Palaeolithic technologies. Of high percentage are blades and scratchers; only two definitively identifieable hand axes were found (both of rather poor quality). The distribution pattern of the Palaeolithic sites with gaps in the eastern lower and the middle Wadi Abu Dom (Fig. 15) does not seem to reflect actual settlement or activity clusters, but it might rather be coincidental, in view of the low frequency of sites from this period in general. Additionally, the pediments of the Jebel Barur – where, for topographical reasons, Palaeolithic material could have been expected – were only surveyed by UAV, which makes the identification of lithic surface finds rather improbable (cf. also chapter 5.1). Palaeolithic tools from the wadi are generally quite roughly made, with only barely visible flaking at the cutting edges (Fig. 16). For this reason, dating the Palaeolithic materials from

Fig. 16: Palaeolithic tools from the lower Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 17: Palaeolithic workshop site 30 in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

the Wadi Abu Dom is sometimes problematic. However, the general design of the lithic tools and some production techniques resembling those of Levallois and Mousterien material, point to the Middle Palaeolithic period. Old Palaeolithic, Young Palaeolithic, and Epipalaeolithic material was found in very small quantities. The Old Palaeolithic is represented by the two hand axes mentioned above, while a very few surface finds of small blades document the Young Palaeolithic. The random association of Middle Palaeolithic tools with Neolithic pieces in some cases led to the idea that some artefacts from the remote areas of the Bayuda and designated Middle Palaeolithic might be of younger date. But the absolute number of Neolithic finds at these archaeological sites (for example, at the habitation and workshop site 12011) is so minimal that the density of finds does not differ from other hinterland areas. Thus, at least for the Neolithic period, these finds do not clearly define archaeological sites. The fact that a Neolithic substratum is widespread in the Wadi Abu Dom makes it rather probable that these associations could be simply fortuitous. The Palaeolithic tools from the WadiAbu Dom are made of magmatic or metamorphic stone (basalt, serpentinite, trachyte-andesite, or, in a few cases, quartzite) which can be found in some quantities on the ridges in the hinterland of the wadi. Silex or obsidian do not occur in the wadi and the surrounding regions; since no tools made of these raw materials were documented, they were obviously not imported. The use of magmatic stone may well explain the rather poor quality of most Palaeolithic tools in the Wadi Abu Dom and in the Bayuda in general. While most Palaeolithic artefacts were found at the surface, three find spots deserve a closer look. All of them can be characterized as workshops, and in one case a workshop possibly associated with a habitation. Sites 30 and 60, situated on two ridges in the western part of the lower Wadi Abu Dom (Fig. 17), exhibit a quite high density of finished Middle Palaeolithic tools and a significant number of cores and flakes which indicate that tools must have been produced at these specific locations to a certain extent. Along the ridges,80 there are in both cases some concentrations of production debris. Since, on the one hand, a very low population density can be assumed for the Palaeolithic, while, on the other hand, raw material 80

Formed by vertical dykes of hypabyssal/microplutonic rock.

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Fig. 18: Palaeolithic settlement structure 12011-1 (drawing T. Karberg).

was abundant, the idea that raw material ‘claims’ of several different groups existed here seems quite unlikely. Differing qualities of the raw material might rather have been responsible for the heterogeneous evidence of production.81 Another Palaeolithic site was documented and partially excavated in the northern hinterland of the upper Wadi Abu Dom. Site 12011 consists of a large workshop area with tools, cores, and flakes, similar to those from sites 30 and 60, and two roundhut clusters, one of which is mapped in Fig. 18.82 Concentrations of lithic tools along with flakes and other production debris were also found within the huts, but with a lesser density than in the workshop area itself. The tools at this site – as most Palaeolithic material from the wadi – point to the Middle Palaeolithic period, but there were also some (though very few) smaller tools which could also probably be younger. However, since no significant stratified material had accumulated at this ridge-top site, there is no stratigraphically demonstrable connection between the round hut-cluster and the Palaeolithic workshop.

6.2 Neolithic In the Wadi Abu Dom, there are several Neolithic surface finds but only a small number of clearly identifiable larger Neolithic sites (Fig. 19). In general, the Neolithic period is documented in many parts of the Wadi Abu Dom by a general ‘substratum’, rather than by clearly demarcated sites. The substratum is found at many spots, but in most cases only with low density. Even if the Neolithic seems to be present to some extent in the Wadi Abu Dom – since Neolithic material is present in general at several places (Fig. 20) – it must be admitted that its representation overall in the wadi is rather limited, in comparison with other regions in the vicinity, for example, in the riverine landscapes of the 4th and 5th Nile Cataracts or the Butana.83

81 82 83

Gabriel 2009: 118–119. The huts themselves are described in chapter 6.3.3 in more detail. Jesse et al. 2013: 60–64.

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Fig.19: Neolithic sites in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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Large-scale archaeological features attributable to the Neolithic period include five habitation sites, three cemeteries, three workshops, one site with rock art associated with a concentration of surface finds, and three other larger accumulations of surface finds. The major site 8365, north of the Jebel Barur on the northern terrace of the middle Wadi Abu Dom (Fig. 21), consists of six round huts and significant amounts of Neolithic pottery. It is the largest clearly identifiable Neolithic settlement in the wadi. Another interesting Neolithic spot is site 10 in the lower Wadi Abu Dom. Here, two rock abris located close to each other were obviously used as shelters in the Neolithic period, since in them we have found a significant concentration of Neolithic sherds and microlithic flakes and tools. These shelters were tested, but unfortunately the sediment Fig. 20: Neolithic pottery from the lower Wadi was a single stratum, only a few centimeters Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.). deep, which did not provide adequate material to establish an internal chronology for the site. Another major, most likely Neolithic spot is site 202 where one of the main southern khors of the lower Wadi Abu Dom narrows (Fig. 22). Along the ridges on both banks of the

Fig. 21: Site 8365, a Neolithic settlement structure with round hut agglomeration (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 22: Neolithic rock art and settlement structures (sites 202 and 204) in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

khor, several panels of rock art have significant patina indicative of a very early – presumably Neolithic – date.84 East of these panels are two dense clusters of Neolithic surface finds (lithic and pottery), presumably identifiable as the remains of a settlement and not of a workshop, since production debris is missing. Like the three major sites mentioned above, slightly more than half of the Neolithic sites are located on ridges or higher plateaus, but some are also situated at lower levels, on the terraces of the main wadi or its khors. The assumption that Neolithic material generally concentrates at higher levels is not supported by the data from the Wadi Abu Dom.85 Also a ‘highland Neolithic’ cannot be differentiated from a ‘lowland Neolithic’, since the material found and the internal distribution patterns at the various sites do not differ significantly. Thus, no discrete ‘cultures’ can be defined. Currently, definitive attribution of the material culture from these sites to the Mesolithic or Neolithic is not possible. Accepting the idea that these terms are not to be understood only chronologically in Sudanese context but also economically,86 the subsistence strategy of the people forming the ‘Neolithic’ cultural complex of the Wadi Abu Dom cannot yet be fully 84 85 86

For this rock art and consideration of its dating, cf. chapter 6.5. A general discussion of different elevation levels of Neolithic/Mesolithic material can be found in Dittrich et al. 2007: 44. Dittrich et al. 2007: 51.

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understood on the basis of the material documented during the survey. Certain camp structures and so-called ‘Steinplätze’87 have been exclusively attributed to Neolithic cattle-herding nomads – and thus to people practicing a producing economy – in other parts of the Eastern Sahara,88 but within the wadi it seems that similar archaeological features can be much younger, even dating to as late as the ‘Box Grave Period’.89 No ‘Neolithic’ site so far investigated in the Wadi Abu Dom revealed remains of bones or botanical material sufficient to show that its population relied either on a food-producing economy, or on hunting, fishing, and gathering. The frequently used term ‘Neolithic’ proves just as inappropriate as the adoption of the term ‘Mesolithic’, used partially at least to characterize the fishing communities of the Late Stone Age at the 4th Cataract.90 The distribution pattern of Neolithic material in the Wadi Abu Dom, especially in view of the relation of the ‘Neolithic’ substrata to the quite low density of clearly Neolithic settlements and burial structures, suggests that the remains were more frequently the setting for a mobile lifestyle than for permanent settlement during this period.

6.3 Habitation Sites Certain archaeological features in the Wadi Abu Dom can be identified as habitation sites. They range from single stone rings and camp sites to elaborate huts and houses with several rooms, and even complex, palace-like structures. Buildings and installations can not only be differentiated by size and complexity, but also according to purpose. Between the intended use of the installations and their layout (especially their size) is a clear connection. As usual in desert and semi-desert areas with a mixture of agri/horticultural and pastoral economies, durable houses for use over extended periods occur besides simple overnight installations and camp sites intended for sometimes repeated, but generally short-term use, at least during the ‘Box Grave Period’– to which we would tentatively assign the ‘simple camp sites’of the lower Wadi Abu Dom. A structural differentiation between these types of installations is, however, often not easy, since the transition between them is fluid. 6.3.1 Simple Camp Sites The identification of simple camp sites is relatively certain. In the field, they are often not easy to detect; nevertheless, they represent an important contribution to the archaeological record. In most cases, they are situated on the flood terraces of the khors (Fig. 23). Their extent can amount to several hundred meters, but since there is limited usable space on the terraces, their width does not exceed a maximum of a few dozen meters. When setting up a camp site, flat surfaces were chosen and cleared of rubble – today they are therefore almost entirely free of larger rocks, except for those employed in original installations which were 87 88 89 90

Cf. also Gabriel in this volume. Gabriel 2002. Eigner & Karberg 2014; cf. also Karberg 2017. Dittrich et al. 2007: 50–51.

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Fig.23: Different types of camp sites in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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centers of anthropogenic activity, often associated with former hearths, and most probably intended as supports for windshields or other lightweight architecture of vegetal material. Some activity centers could be interpreted as enclosures for camp fires. Other camp sites are indicated by irregular, if nonetheless man-made concentrations of stone. In such cases, accumulations of ash (as evidence for hearths) were found in the immediate vicinity of, but not directly within the ‘activity centers’characterized by anthropogenic, if rather unstructured, agglomerations of stones within camp sites. For example, a surface clearing at camp site 211 showed such a distribution pattern (Fig. 24). The only class of a camp activity center directly associated with camp fires is the so-called three-stone fire installation, usually made of larger rocks placed around a hearth intended to support a cooking pot with a round bottom. Similar hearth installations of non-sedentary groups have also been recorded in other regions – e.g., in Jordan – in both archaeological91 and ethnographical contexts.92 So-called Steinplätze (‘stone places’) are hearths of a different type recorded at temporary camp sites. They are characterized by a circle of small, up to fist-sized rocks, heated directly in a fire for use in food preparation in the absence of pots or other cooking aids (Fig. 25).

Fig. 24: Excavation plan of camp site 211 (plan W.A.D.I.).

91 92

Saidel 2001: 155–156. Banning 1993.

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Such ‘stone places’ were first recorded in the Eastern Sahara and dated to the Neolithic period.93 However, there are various indications that most ‘stone places’ recorded in Wadi Abu Dom are considerably younger.94 North of the Wadi Abu Dom, at the ruin of Khor Shingawi, a ‘stone place’with associated lenticularashaccumulationwasrecorded in a stratified archaeological context dating to the Post-Meroitic or (early) Medieval period.95 Local inhabitants reported that similar installations are still in use today, not as a standard method of food preparation, but for ‘barbecuing’. Fig. 25: ‘Stone place’ feature 188-2: a temporary fire place (photo W.A.D.I.). Another typical feature encountered at the simple camp sites is an installation with two rows of (usually) three stone slabs each. The rectangle so formed measures roughly 2–2.5 m by 1.5–2 m. The stone slabs supported wooden bed constructions which were easier to transport than beds with wooden bed posts. Surface finds and information provided by local inhabitants indicate that this type of installation continued in use during historical periods down into contemporary times. Simple camp sites are often difficult to date. Since the installations are mostly very simple and were in use for centuries (or even millennia, like the ‘stone places’), only surface finds or scientific dating methods can provide relative as well as absolute dates. The ceramic material collected at the camp sites in the Wadi Abu Dom is datable to various periods, with the majority of sites comprising wares of the Christian Medieval period. Islamic and sub-recent wares also occur in considerable quantities, documenting that sites of this type were frequented quite until recent times by pastoralists. These chronological assumptions are supported by radiocarbon dates from ash concentrations at camp site 211 indicating a (late) ‘Box Grave Period’ date for this archaeological feature.96 Most interestingly, no simple camp site described in this chapter was clearly dated earlier than the ‘Box Grave Period’, neither by ceramics nor radiocarbon, indicating new mobility patterns and therefore some changes in the local economy and society in the Middle Ages. The specific function of the camp sites could also not be completely clarified. The general frequency of material found in conjunction with structural considerations classifies these installations as temporary. But their function within the economic structure remains subject to interpretation. They could possibly be interpreted as providing (rare) archaeological evidence for non-sedentary pastoralists, but a function in long-range communication or trade networks cannot be ruled out. It is noteworthy that similar camp sites have also been recorded in other 93 94 95 96

Gabriel 2002. Gabriel & Karberg 2011: 93–94; cf. also Gabriel in this Volume. Eigner & Karberg 2014: 194–195. Lohwasser et al. 2016: 78–80.

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regions where non-linear, short to middle range communication networks can be assumed (as seems likely in the Wadi Abu Dom). Such communication patterns more probably served to connect the immediate vicinity than as routes to reach distant destinations – which would have been reflected in a linear, concentrated system. For example, the simple camp sites of the Wadi Abu Dom are paralleled by similar installations in the desert areas west of the Nile Delta between the Qattara Depression and the Mediterranean coast.97 For some of these camp sites, as for the examples covered in this chapter, usage down into recent times is postulated.98 6.3.2 Gravel Platforms With regard to certain archaeological features, it is not possible to differentiate whether they are part of temporary camp sites or belong to long-term or permanent habitation sites. This applies especially to the so-called gravel platforms (Fig. 26). This category of stone installation typically includes rectangular platforms, measuring approximately 2 x 1 m, lined with rough stone slabs and filled with rubble or grus (Fig. 27). These structures occur singly, in groups, or in association with rings of stones. Four such platforms were selected for excavation in 201599 and 2016100 which revealed that they do not show any substructures and are not associated with ash accumulations or similar archaeological evidence. Ethnographically documented comparable structures dating from recent times support, in conjunction with information obtained from local inhabitants, the interpretation of these platforms as bases for bed-like sleeping installations.101 In many cases it can be assumed that they represent the remains of temporary camp sites intended for short-term use only. Experimental reconstructions of such platforms revealed that they could be constructed from material collected locally in about 30 minutes, even by unskilled individuals.102 The gravel platforms are usually situated at some distance from the wadi and khor terraces, sometimes hidden between ridges but always away from rough and rocky terrain. If in clusters, the individual platforms are in many cases not arranged parallel but, surprisingly, often perpendicular to each other. Now and then, platforms of considerably Fig. 27: Gravel platform, 3D SFM-model smaller size were also documented, (model J. Eger). perhaps for children. In those cases where platforms occur in association 97 98 99 100 101

Vetter et al. 2013: 466, Fig. 9. Vetter et al. 2013: 464, Fig. 6. Lohwasser et al. 2015: 116–117. Lohwasser et al. 2016: 81–82. The possible contribution of ethnographic or other local sources to the interpretation of camp structures in the archaeological record is considered in the Sudanese context by Bradley 1992; cf. also Saidel 2001: 151, for similar problems in Jordan. 102 Cf. Tschernig & Shamsalola in this volume.

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Fig. 26: Gravel platforms in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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with rings of stones or semi-circular shelters, they are often situated within the stone constructions or, sometimes, immediately outside them. This arrangement corresponds to some camp patterns seen even today, where lightweight, tent-like constructions made from vegetal material (rakubas) are often used as habitation facilities, with the choice of where to sleep – inside or outside the hut – dependent on weather conditions. In some cases, ceramics or other surface finds were associated with the gravel platforms. They usually are datable to the ‘Terrace Tumuli’ or the ‘Box Grave Period’. Rather often surface finds from both periods occur together at the same site, leading to the assumption that these installations were used repeatedly over longer periods. The topographical distribution patterns of gravel platforms show significant differences between the three parts of the Wadi Abu Dom. In the lower wadi only very few examples were observed. In the middle wadi, after the curve at Umm Beida, the number of recorded gravel platforms rises rapidly. In the upper Wadi Abu Dom, the number of gravel platforms is more or less the same as in the middle wadi, but those associated with rings of stones increases. Similar gravel platforms, labelled ‘RF03’ in the typology of Borcowski and Welsby and interpreted as camp structures, have already been recorded at the 4th Cataract.103 6.3.3 Round Huts Habitation sites consisting of round hut remains, be they intended for permanent or temporary use, are the most widespread settlement structures in the Wadi Abu Dom (Fig. 28). They occur in many different forms, ranging from simple round huts (indicated by single rings of stones [Fig. 29], presumably just foundations for rakuba or other lightweight and nonpermanent architecture) through more complex hut structures (like kraalshaped agglomerations [Fig. 30])104 to large sites with several rings of stones (Fig. 31). The last ones are often associated – at least topographically – with other archaeological features like graveyards. It is questionable whether all settings with stone circles are to be interpreted as habitation sites – many of them are too small to serve such a Fig. 29: Simple stone ring settlement structure (feature purpose. We decided to interpret all rings 345-1) in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (photo of stones with a diameter of more than W.A.D.I.). 2 m as settlement structures, since this 103 Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 12. 104 Even if these round hut clusters hint at a more sedentary lifestyle, rather than being just ‘overnight’camps, they must not necessarily be connected with an agricultural subsistence, since examples from East Africa show that similar hut clusters can also be used by pastoralists (Shahack-Gross et al. 2004: 1398). An attribution of settlement structures in the Wadi Abu Dom – whether they were intended for permanent or temporary use – to an agricultural or pastoralist strategy could probably be determined on the basis of chemical analysis of surface material (cf. Shahack-Gross et al. 2003: 442–445).

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Fig. 28: Round hut settlement sites in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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Fig. 30: Kraal-shaped round hut habitation cluster (feature 10852-17) in the upper Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 31: Association of stone ring settlement structures and ridge graves (site 19582) in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg, map background W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 32: Round hut settlement structure with central stone installation (feature 861-1) in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

would be about the minimal size of a hut in which a single individual could sleep in an extended position. Simple rings of stones with a diameter of less than 1.5 m might be storage facilities (cf. chapter 6.8). All others are not clearly interpretable.105 In the center of some of these rings, simple agglomerations of few (but large) rocks were found (Fig. 32). They are either hearths, or the remains of a support for a central pole. One such structure (site 861) was tested. Within the sounding, no traces of any ash accumulation were found; the central stone setting should in this case be interpreted as some type of architectural feature. The all in all 1913 documented single or clustered circular hut structures are homogeneously distributed in the survey area of the Wadi Abu Dom. The fact that they are often located at some distance from the main wadi, in the hinterland, is noteworthy, setting them apart from recent settlement patterns in the Wadi Abu Dom, since nowadays villages and other permanent habitation structures are often concentrated on the high flood terraces along the wadi banks.106 The survey documented ancient round hut structures along khors, within valleys between rocky ridges in the hinterland, or on higher plateaus. These differing locations for settlement structures might represent separate phases of human occupation in the Wadi Abu Dom region. In general, dating these settlements is quite difficult because their layout did not change much over time. 105 4525 rings of stones were recorded during the survey. According to the criteria we established, 1913 of them are 2.00 m or more in diameter and thus interpreted as settlement structures; 593 are less than 1.50 m in diameter and so considered deposits. The majority of stone rings (2019) are not clearly definable features. 106 Cf. also Eigner 2016.

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Fig. 33: The south-western round hut cluster, feature 12011-1 (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 34: Sites 19577, 19578, and 19582 in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg, map background W.A.D.I.).

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Definitive chronological attribution can only be based on material found within the structures, or by association with other, more precisely datable categories of archaeological evidence. Several round hut settlement structures in the Wadi Abu Dom were excavated in an attempt to clarify their dating and function. One of them is site 12011 (Fig. 33). Here, two kraal-shaped hut clusters consisting of eight stone rings are situated on a rocky plateau in the northern hinterland of the upper Wadi Abu Dom. During the data acquisition phase of the survey, several lithic tools were found in and immediately around the site. The forms are datable to the local variant of the Middle Palaeolithic period. Soundings within and around the hut structures revealed a dense concentration of similar lithic material including finished tools, as well as cores and flakes typical for a workshop area. Very few Neolithic sherds were found, but their small number might indicate that they were not functionally associated with the round hut structures, but merely a part of the Neolithic substratum widespread in large parts of the Wadi Abu Dom hinterland. On the other hand, tools of Palaeolithic shape and format were found associated with Neolithic ceramics in other parts of the wadi, so it could also be the case that some tool forms typical for the Palaeolithic period were in use longer in the Bayuda (cf. also chapter 6.1). Except for this lithic material, no finds of other periods came to light in and around the settlement structure; presumably, it was a habitation and/or workshop site from either the Palaeolithic or the (early) Neolithic. This might correlate with observations from the lower WadiAbu Dom107 and the region of the 4th Cataract108 where Neolithic complexes often existed in slightly elevated areas – during at least parts of the African Humid Period (corresponding to the Atlantic Climatic Episode);109 apparently some lower areas were too wet for permanent settlement. The existence of round hut settlements in the ‘Ridge Tumulus Period’is rather problematic. Indeed, we have found no round hut settlement structures clearly associated with the typical ceramics of that period, which resemble Kerma style pottery from the 4th Cataract and other regions. On the other hand, some round hut settlements are at least topographically associated with ridge cemeteries. In such cases, the settlements are located on the pediment of the ridges, while the typical small aboveground tumuli of this period are on top of the ridges. Prominent examples are the sites 3803–3808 and 3812–3814, as well as the sites 19577, 19578, and 19582 (Fig. 34). Of course, it remains unclear whether the round hut settlements along the ridges and the cemeteries on top of them are actually associated with each other – this could only be determined stratigraphically or by comparing find assemblages. But the topographic association of ridge graves and round hut settlements seems to follow a kind of typical pattern. Moreover, the distribution pattern of ridge graves (even in the middle Wadi Abu Dom) hints at a sedentary lifestyle or at the very least a pattern of short-range mobility (cf. chapter 6.4.1). A large number of round hut complexes, especially in the upper Wadi Abu Dom, date to the Late Antique period and ‘Box Grave Period’. Some of these habitation sites are situated along the high flood terraces of the main wadi and its khors, but in most cases, they were somewhat hidden above the wadi, in the valleys between the rocky ridges of the hinterland.

107 Lohwasser 2010: 45, 47, Abb. 20. 108 Budka 2007a: 59. 109 Kröpelin & Kuper 2007.

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Fig. 35: Settlement site 10852 with adjacent box grave cemetery near Jebel Musran (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

Fig. 36: Settlement site 14001 with adjacent box grave cemetery at Jebel Ras ed-Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

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Fig. 37: Round hut habitation features of different types at site 12204 in the upper Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

Most of these hut agglomerations can be dated by associated finds. Sites 10852, 12204, and 14001 were tested. Additional material from the deposits and radiocarbon dates confirm the chronological assumptions made on the basis of the surface finds. Some settlements (among them, the excavated sites 10852 and 14001) are associatedwithboxgravecemeteries. These graveyards are in most cases located near the banks of the main wadi or khors, slightly below the Fig. 38: Elaborated round hut with double layered wall (feature 12204-5), detail (photo W.A.D.I.). settlements (Figs. 35 & 36). Round hut settlements sometimes consist of (or at least include) quite complex architectural installations. A good example is the habitation site 12004 (Fig. 37). At this large settlement, some of the hut structures were tested by soundings. In addition to simple stone rings which also occur here, three huts of elaborate design and construction were documented. The walls are made of rubble between stone slabs, resembling a simplified (and rural) variant of a double layer wall (Figs. 38 & 39). In comparison with examples from the Nile Valley, this construction technique is still relatively simple, but by far more stable and elaborate than most other building methods encountered in the Wadi Abu Dom. Quite probably, this method of construction is indicative of permanent use.

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Apart from some sherds of ‘Box Grave Period’ pottery, larger concentrations of animal bones were found at sites 12204 and 14001. In both cases, they were excavated close to the entrance of a hut structure at the outer wall. Since the bones were mixed, they most probably are simply kitchen waste. The rubbish dump at site 12204 was associated with one of the elaborate huts, while the one at site 14001 with a simple stone ring. The kitchen leftovers were dumped near the entrance in both cases, neither removed from the settlement nor thrown into a pit; this indicates that in some cases, waste disposal was similar, regardless of the layout and complexity of the structures.

Fig. 39: Round hut feature 12204-5 (field drawing L. Haupt, CAD plan T. Karberg).

Some round hut settlements – among them site 12204 with its rather elaborate wall constructions – also contain several gravel beds like those described in chapter 6.3.2 (Fig. 40). This suggests that these platforms cannot be interpreted only as temporary camp features (as initially assumed), but that they were also in use in more stationary permanent settlement contexts. As stated above, the often very simple stone rings represent the only surviving evidence for many settlements. There are not many clues about how these stone rings were constructed. Today, most consist of just one row or layer of stone slabs. Sometimes small heaps of rubble surround them, but this is not true for a clear majority of them. This proves that the round huts were not constructed with massive (now collapsed) stone walls. Comparisons with recent habitation sites in the Wadi Abu Dom show that such buildings are often constructed of mud bricks. Most probably, much of the ancient architecture of the area also relied on this building material. Archaeological investigations in deserts elsewhere have shown that mudbrick architecture, when exposed to the wind at the surface and not covered by sediment, vanishes totally over a short time span, leaving no traces whatsoever in the archaeological record.110 110 Eigner 2013: 313.

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Fig. 40: Stone ring with adjacent gravel platform, feature 12204-2 (drawing T. Karberg).

Simple stone rings could have served as a foundation of some sort for a wall, or as simple orthostates protecting the lowest courses of a mud brick wall from surface water or other threats.111 In a few cases, the round structures are made up of large amounts of smaller pebbles and gravel. This specific variant could also represent the remains of stones added to the mud bricks that fell to the ground as the wall eroded. But this special type of round hut occurs only very rarely in the Wadi Abu Dom. In general, the assumption that many of the historical settlement structures in the Wadi Abu Dom region were constructed primarily of mud brick, and not from stone, is also supported by the observation that mud brick architectural elements are rather common even within more complex installations. In the monumental buildings of the lower, as well as the upper wadi, mud brick elements occur together with walls made from stone slabs, and thus, at least for the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’, combinations of both construction techniques were used in the Wadi Abu Dom.112 Stone rings can also be interpreted as traces of supports for vegetal or other lightweight architecture, like the so-called rakuba constructions still in use in the Bayuda and the Keraba. The stones would then have functioned as weights to stabilize the arrangement of mats or to support poles which could not have been easily secured in post holes on the hard bedrock of the wadi terraces and their hinterland. However, a few stone ring constructions with central stone installations were also erected on softer sediment such as habitation site 861 (mentioned above). During the test sounding of site 861, no post hole was visible in the sediment below the central stone installation. Thus the archaeological context provides no information to clarify how the simple round huts of the Wadi Abu Dom were built, and how widespread mud brick as well as lightweight vegetal architecture really was in different historical periods. 111 Cf. also Eger et al. 2010: 75. 112 Eigner & Karberg 2013: 53.

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6.3.4 Complex Structures 6.3.4.1 Monumental buildings There are several complex building structures in the Wadi Abu Dom. Most are situated in the lower Wadi Abu Dom, in the vicinity of the micro-oases still inhabited today (Fig. 42). The complex buildings at Umm Ruweim (Fig. 41), Quweib, and Umm Khafour are the largest constructions in the wadi, except for the monastery of Ghazali. Another area with large and rather complex buildings is the region of Bir Merwa at the juncture of the middle with the upper Wadi Abu Dom. They are described below only cursorily.113 The monastic settlement of Ghazali, which plays a special role amongst the architectural remains in the wadi, is situated – like the structures of Umm Ruweim, Umm Khafour, and Quweib – in the lower wadi close to a micro-oasis. Its proximity to the Nile and other circumstances indicate a closer dependence on the Nile Valley than is the case for other settlement clusters in the WadiAbu Dom. The monastery was not documented by the WadiAbu Dom Itinerary project because it was not part of the concession area of Münster University, but of the Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology. Since 2010, it is being studied and excavated by an archaeological mission led by Artur Obłuski.114 East of Ghazali, around the oasis of El-Rum, the four largest buildings within the Wadi Abu Dom and dating to late antiquity are situated, forming an important settlement cluster, that even extends to the very eastern end of the oasis near El-Beida.

Fig. 41: The monumental buildings of Umm Ruweim 1–3 (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo). 113 Cf. Eigner in this volume for a more detailed assessment of these buildings. 114 Obłuski & Ochała, 2016; cf. also Ciesielska et al. in this volume.

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Fig. 42: The oasis of El-Rum with the monumental architectural structures Umm Ruweim (1–3), Umm Khafour and Quweib in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg).

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The second important settlement cluster with larger buildings lies in the area of modern Bir Merwa, where a fifth monumental construction is situated at El-Tuweina with another relatively complex building north of Bir Merwa (site 5518, Fig. 43; cf. next chapter 6.3.4.2).

Fig. 43: Elaborated hut structure with adjacent box graves (site 5518) in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (drawing T. Karberg).

A building exhibiting some characteristics similar to Umm Ruweim 1 was documented north of the Wadi Abu Dom at Khor Shingawi; specific features of it may be connected with the architecture of the Wadi Abu Dom.115 These monumental buildings in the WadiAbu Dom have not been investigated in detail until now, but some indications hint at their function as palace-like elite habitation sites, probably with adjacent storage facilities. A ritual and/or ideological purpose cannot be excluded for installations within the buildings. This holds especially true for the platforms in the complexes at Umm Ruweim 1116 and Quweib.117 115 Eigner & Karberg 2014. 116 Eigner & Karberg 2011: 76–77. 117 Eigner & Karberg 2012: 52–53.

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The function of the monumental buildings of the Wadi Abu Dom, and especially of Umm Ruweim 1, is far from clear, but a number of proposals found in the earlier literature can be excluded as a result of the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project’s research. Neville Chittick had earlier refuted the identification as caravanserais; he pointed out the lack of similar installations within reliable distances inside the Bayuda.118 The extensive investigation of the entire wadi by the WadiAbu Dom Itinerary project proved this.Another interpretation of the building complex of Umm Ruweim 1 as a hydreuma (a slightly fortified well station), as Neville Chittick119 as well as Angelo und Alfredo Castiglioni120 had proposed on the basis of its resemblance to the Roman hydreumata in the Egyptian Eastern Desert, can also be excluded. The same holds true for its role as a military fortification as postulated by Derek Welsby.121 A final interpretation of the function(s) of the building, especially in terms of the ancient use of the different rooms, remains open.122 The elongated rooms could have been domestic quarters and/or storage facilities. An enigmatic structure is the central building with its open courtyard and a solitary platform; this building could be interpreted as living quarters (“central apartment”, according to Dieter Eigner),123 but the altar-shaped platform could also be suggestive of ideological functions for the courtyard, or even for the central building as a whole.124 For now, the outer room structure of Umm Ruweim 1 can be dated to the Late or PostMeroitic period.125 Nevertheless, whether the different parts of the building were constructed simultaneously or represent separate building phases with a more complex internal chronology is a question that remains unanswered for the present. The function of the other monumental buildings of the lower Wadi Abu Dom also remains unclear, even disregarding their simpler structure. The two square buildings of Umm Ruweim 2 and Umm Khafour were at first interpreted as enclosures for livestock. Based on the investigations of the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project, this can be excluded. The geophysical prospection of the courtyards – formerly considered devoid of features – revealed that they actually contained rather elaborate architectural installations resembling rooms, most probably built of (mud?) brick rather than stone.126 To some extent, the layout of these features is similar to the general layout of the building of Umm Ruweim 1, but simplified. The central construction, consisting of two connected round structures, resembles bee-hive-shaped storage facilities, as interpreted by Eigner.127 Nevertheless, the position in the geometric center of the building (like the ‘central apartment’ with its platform at Umm Ruweim 1) might well be indicative of a more prominent function than simple storage. Elsewhere round facilities for storage are mostly relegated to the periphery of larger building complexes.128 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128

Chittick 1955: 90. Chittick 1955: 90–91. Negro et al. 2006: 416. Welsby 2002: 87. A large-scale archaeological excavation project at the different monumental buildings of the lower Wadi Abu Dom is planned for the near future. Cf. Eigner in this volume. Eigner & Karberg 2011. Eigner & Karberg 2011: 81–82. Erkul et al. 2012: 64–67. Cf. Eigner in this volume. For example the Kushite fortress of Gala Abu Ahmed (Eigner 2013: 311, 316–317), or examples from Palestine (Currid 1985: 99, Fig. 1).

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The building complex of Quweib did not retain any traces of mud brick installations in its courtyard, neither on the surface nor in the geophysical record. It exhibits fewer features characteristic of residential architecture than the other monumental buildings, despite the fact that some structural features resemble details of the building of Umm Ruweim 1.129 Nevertheless, the large open courtyard, most probably without any constructions inside, could be correlated with functions of a trading post. The small building of Umm Ruweim 3 has elongated rooms which resemble storage facilities.130 Since no further archaeological investigation was made here, no conclusions about the function or dating of the building are possible at this time. The building of Khor Shingawi, although not situated within the Wadi Abu Dom, shows some specific features similar to those of the monumental buildings in the wadi, especially to Umm Ruweim 1. Its layout with rooms presumed to be domestic quarters, arranged around a small courtyard, is typical of an elite dwelling complex. Perhaps the location of the building should be seen in relation to a modern track nearby, as assumed by Dieter Eigner;131 however, there is no evidence that this track was used in antiquity.132 The building of El-Tuweina near Bir Merwa at the junction of the middle and the upper Wadi Abu Dom is most likely to be interpreted as an elite residential building. At surface level, as at Umm Ruweim 2 and Umm Khafour, the site seems to consist of two single buildings (object 2 and 3) within a large enclosure with adjacent room structures (object 1).133 First soundings, however, revealed that mud brick constructions must be presumed in the courtyard, as in the lower Wadi Abu Dom.134 The interpretation of the elongated rooms within object 3 is still problematic. Their general layout resembles large storage rooms,135 while the archaeological record inside the rooms with large amounts of kitchen debris might be taken to suggest residential character. Traces of painted plaster are indicative of an elite context. The structure is situated near a junction of modern tracks, but as at Khor Shingawi, there is no clear evidence that these tracks were in use in antiquity. Additionally, the surrounding area with the well of Bir Merwa is an ecologically favored zone down to the present, and the general density of archaeological sites might signal that this was also the case in earlier periods. Charcoal samples taken at the outer enclosure wall and in one of the two single buildings were radiocarbon dated to the Late Meroitic period.136 No absolute dating can at present be proposed for the other large buildings in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (except for Umm Ruweim 1; see immediately above). But there is at least a strong hint for a pre-‘Box Grave Period’ date for the buildings of Umm Ruweim 2 and Umm Khafour. The box graves immediately beside both enclosures were obviously constructed from stone material taken from their outer walls, indicating that the buildings were no longer regularly used in the Medieval period.

129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136

Cf. Eigner in this volume. Eigner & Karberg 2013: 57–58. Cf. Eigner in this volume. Cf. paragraph 6.6 about the problems for reconstructing ancient traffic patterns based on modern routes. Eigner & Karberg 2013: 54, Abb. 3. Further archaeological investigations of El-Tuweina are planned for the near future. Cf. Eigner in this volume. Eigner & Karberg 2013: 57.

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Fig. 44: Habitation site 468 in the lower Wadi Abu Dom dating to the ‘Box Grave Period’ (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

6.3.4.2 Other complex buildings There are also other architectural installations within the Wadi Abu Dom which are not as monumental as those just discussed, but nonetheless larger and more complex than the usual round hut architecture described in chapter 6.3.3. Most are situated, like the monumental structures, in the lower wadi. A single example was documented in the middle Wadi Abu Dom. A representative example of a Fig. 45: L-shaped hut feature 468-6 (photo W.A.D.I.). more complex, but non-monumental architectural structure from the ‘Box Grave Period’ is site 468 on the south bank of the lower WadiAbu Dom (Fig. 44). Its buildings are not only larger than the usual round hut constructions, but were built according to rectangular ground plans. One of them is strictly rectangular, while the layout of the other is L-shaped (Fig. 45). The rectangular building is 7.5 m long and 4.5 m wide, while the L-shaped structure measures 8.5 x 7 m. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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The complex is clearly datable to the ‘Box Grave Period’ by several surface finds – in particular, Medieval ceramic material (Fig. 46). The location of the building ensemble is rather hidden, separated by two larger rocky ridges from the terraces of the main wadi. The functions of the buildings and why they were erected at such a distance from the wadi and paths is not yet clear. Other rather complex structures (sites 2504 and 2505) were documented Fig. 46: Agglomeration of Medieval ceramics at hut at the juncture of the lower and the feature 468-6 (photo W.A.D.I.). middle Wadi Abu Dom, south of the main wadi, but at some distance from the wadi terraces in the hinterland (Fig. 47). Nowadays, only one layer of stones is preserved at both sites, as is elsewhere in the wadi for most round hut architecture. Nevertheless, their considerable size – (roughly) 8 x 7 m in both cases with several rooms – and their rectangular plans differ significantly from most other structures in the Wadi Abu Dom (Fig. 48). As at site 468, no obvious reason can be suggested for erecting such comparably elaborate buildings here, far from the area directly influenced by the wadi and its water resources. Since there were no surface finds from either building, it is not possible to propose a date for them.

Fig. 47: Complex hut structures 2504-1 and 2505-1 in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

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Fig. 48: Hut feature 2504-1 (photo W.A.D.I.).

An especially noteworthy example of an elaborate residential building is situated in the middle Wadi Abu Dom between the wells of Bir Tawila and Bir Merwa, in a region with a relatively high ground water level and dense vegetation (in comparison to other parts of the wadi). Site 5518 consists of a eight-roomed stone building with a total area of about 10 x 13 m (Figs. 49 & 50). It is, of course, not comparable to the monumental buildings described in chapter 6.3.4.1, but with respect to the WadiAbu Dom it is relatively large, complex, and most probably an installation associated with an elite. Unlike other structures described in this chapter, the building is located in a rather prominent position on the north bank of a wadi terrace, at the mouth of one of the wadi’s khors. The presence of an elaborate elite residential building here could be explained because it was on the edge of the fertile area of Bir Merwa which, at its other end, supported the much larger building complex of El-Tuweina. No soundings have yet been carried out at this building; clearly datable surface finds were not found. Attribution of the building to the Late or Post-Meroitic period seems however quite probable. The technology used to construct the walls made from raw stone slabs resembles some walls at the monumental buildings of the lower Wadi Abu Dom quite closely; secondly, north of the building there are two box graves which were obviously constructed of stone material from its collapsed walls – like the box graves at Umm Ruweim 2 and Umm Khafour. In other words, the building can be presumed to have no longer been in use when the box graves were constructed. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 49: Complex architecture around Bir Merwa: Hut structure 5518 and the monumental building of El-Tuweina (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/ Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

Fig. 50: Elaborated hut structure 5518-1 (photo W.A.D.I.).

6.4 Burials 6.4.1 Ridge Graves In the Wadi Abu Dom, several different grave types located on top of ridges or other hard rocky surfaces are tentatively datable to a time before ‘terrace tumuli’ (cf. chapter 6.4.2) became a general custom. There are indications that this ‘Ridge Tumuli Period’ is contemporary with the late Kerma or New Kingdom periods of the Nile Valley (Fig. 51).137 Most are shaped like tumuli, but lack a grave shaft. Instead, the burial was deposited on the surface and covered with stones to form the superstructure. In some cases, the burial was deposited inside a construction of larger stone slabs; such structures are called ‘dome graves’. Another grave type is the so-called ‘cleft burial’: the bodies were deposited in natural clefts among boulders and covered with rocks of various size. Often, but not always, they are datable to the ‘Ridge Tumuli Period’. 137 See also Paner in this volume.

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Fig. 51: Different site categories of the ‘Ridge Grave Period’ in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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Fig. 52: Agglomeration of clustered ridge tumuli (site 5174) in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 53: Dome grave 159-1 in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

Until now it is not clear whether the cleft burials represent simply a poor variant of the dome grave and another type of elaborate burial above ground, or whether it derives from an altogether different, specific sepulchral tradition. Nevertheless, ‘tumuli’, ‘dome graves’, and ‘cleft burials’ share the same general characteristics: the corpse was not deposited in a pit in the ground, but placed on top of the natural surface and beneath a superstructure. A total of 2491 burials of the ‘ridge tumulus’ type and its above-ground variants were documented in the Wadi AbuDom.Thevastmajorityaretumulusshaped (without a pit) and generally situated atop ridges, often in clusters (Fig. 52). Many of them, distributed throughout the Wadi Abu Dom, are topographically associated with round hut habitation sites on the pediments of the ridges, allowing for burying the dead in the immediate vicinity

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Fig. 54: Cleft burial 5123-1 in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

(Fig. 34). But it remains unclear whether the settlements and cemeteries are really to be seen as functionally and chronologically associated (cf. also chapter 6.3.3). The distribution patterns of the relatively small and homogeneously distributed ridge grave cemeteries might indicate a more sedentary lifestyle with only slight mobile components, in turn suggesting that during the ‘Ridge Tumuli Period’, a sedentary and stationary subsistence life style might still have been possible in all parts of the wadi, including its central areas. In general, the layout of ‘dome graves’ is comparable to that of the ‘tumuli’, but the corpse is placed in a chamber, above ground, made from flat stone slabs (Fig. 53).138 In the Wadi Abu Dom, such burials are usually solitary installations, neither clustered together in cemeteries, nor clearly associated with other archaeological features. Cleft burials are often considered contemporaneous either with the very late Kerma or the Napatan period.139 The body of the deceased was placed in a natural cleft between boulders, ‘sealed’ with a simple layer of stones (Fig. 54). Since no pit was dug into the ground, ‘cleft burials’ are related to the ‘ridge tumuli’; distinguishing a relatively elaborate cleft burial from a ‘ridge tumulus’ with some natural boulders is often not possible, except in those cases where ceramics or other grave goods were found. The incorporation of the cleft burials into the ‘above ground burial tradition’ would make it likely that they represent just a poor variant of the Kerma style graves.

138 Cf. the grave types FD01 and FD02 as defined by Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 7 in the 4th Cataract area. 139 Budka 2007b: 78–82.

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6.4.2 Tumuli Situated at the Wadi and Khor Terraces Tumuli with large shaft sub-structures placed on the flood terraces of the main wadi and its khors are among the most prominent archaeological features of the Wadi Abu Dom (Fig. 55). They are often interpreted as contemporaneous with the (Late-)Meroitic and Post-Meroitic periods.140 Altogether, 1101 tumuli of this type were documented in the wadi. 525 are situated in the lower, 430 in the middle, and only 146 in the upper Wadi Abu Dom. If considering numbers only, the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ is most frequently represented in the lower wadi. But notably, most tumuli in the lower Wadi Abu Dom are rather small (only 18 examples have a diameter of 10 m or more); moreover, their distribution is quite homogeneous in small cemeteries throughout the lower wadi. One rare example is the double cemetery comprising sites 515 and 531, with a total of 48 tumulus graves (Fig. 56). This cemetery, which is untypically large for the lower Wadi Abu Dom, is situated on the southern bank of the wadi, directly opposite the monumental building of Umm Ruweim 1 (Fig. 57); probably, it played a special role within the settlement structure of the lower Wadi Abu Dom and its oases. Eight of the 18 large tumuli (diameter of 10 m or more) of the lower wadi area are found at this partucularly prominent double cemetery. In the middle Wadi Abu Dom, 430 ‘terrace tumuli’ were found. They number somewhat fewer than in the lower wadi, but here they are generally larger (35 tumuli, twice as many as in the lower wadi, are 10 m or more in diameter); and they are concentrated in much fewer, but larger cemeteries. The largest terrace tumulus graveyard of the whole WadiAbu Dom, cemetery 16084 with 70 tumuli (Fig. 58), is in the middle wadi. Several other terrace tumuli cemeteries in the middle wadi are also relatively large, with 20 or more tumuli (Fig. 59). The terrace tumuli here vary considerably in type. Many are constructed with (primarily) east or southeast oriented ‘noses’ (Fig. 60),141 while some are just laid out as simple stone rings (Fig. 61). Yet others are rather asymmetric with a sloping surface (Fig. 62).142 This type, of which very few have been documented in the lower,143 but more in the middle wadi, resembles tumuli in the Keraba.144 It is not yet clear whether these variations reflect certain chronological, cultural, or social differentiations, or whether they simply exemplify a certain fashion. In the upper Wadi Abu Dom, the number of terrace tumuli is significantly lower. The occurrence of this tumulus type is rather rare during this period in comparison to other areas of the Wadi Abu Dom, as well as with graves of other periods within the upper wadi. At the time of the transition from the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ to the ‘Box Grave Period’, the number of graves rises rapidly in this area, indicating a general increase of human presence and activity at the beginning of the Medieval era. Thus, the small number of graves and other archaeological features of earlier times does not necessarily indicate that the upper wadi was a less favored zone in general. 140 Cf. Eger & Kołosowska in this volume. 141 Similar to tumulus type FT06 as defined by Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 4, but with a flat surface. 142 Cf. the above mentioned tumulus type FT06 (Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 4) which combines ‘nose’ and an asymmetric, sloping surface – both characteristics do not necessarily occur together within the Wadi Abu Dom. 143 Lohwasser 2010: 48. 144 Gabriel 2001: 44–60.

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Fig. 55: ‘Terrace tumuli’ in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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Fig. 56: Flat ring-tumulus 515-44 in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 57: The cemetery sites 514, 515, and 531 opposite Umm Ruweim in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/ Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

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Fig. 58: ‘Terrace tumuli’ cemetery site 16084 near Jebel Barur in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 59: ‘Terrace tumuli’ and ‘box grave’ cemetery site 5037 in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

Fig. 60: Drop-shaped tumulus 5247-1 in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 61: Simple tumulus 5037-4 in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 62: Ship-bow-shaped tumulus 5037-2 in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

In fact, in most periods (and even in recent times) much less evidence of human activity was found here, but there must have been some reason why the area was able to support larger amounts of inhabitants during the ‘Box Grave Period’. The rocky area of the upper wadi must have then been an especially favored zone (cf. also chapter 8.1.3). Test excavations carried out in 2015 at three cemeteries near Bir Merwa yielded results relating to the dating of terrace tumuli. Even before these excavations, the idea had occurred to us that some of the graves of the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ discovered in the Wadi Abu Dom, traditionally considered ‘Post-Meroitic’, could date earlier and could therefore be contemporary with the Meroitic culture – but in a very rural context.145 The excavations at cemetery site 5500 (Fig. 63) support this idea, at least partially. Two of the tumuli investigated showed characteristics of Late Meroitic graves within their substructure.146 Due to continuing difficulties posed by both the chronology and sequence of cultural groups in the Wadi Abu Dom, as well as problems concerning the extent of the political and cultural integration of the remote areas of the Bayuda into the Meroitic and Post-Meroitic cultural context, we use the neutral term ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ (cf. chapter 4). 145 Lohwasser 2011: 67. 146 Cf. Eger & Kołosowska in this volume.

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Fig. 63: Large drop-shaped tumulus 5500-1 with adjacent box graves (drawing J. Eger).

6.4.3 Box Graves and Other Medieval Burials Several cemeteries yield archaeological evidence for the Christian Medieval period in the Wadi Abu Dom (Fig. 64). Some are associated with settlement clusters, but most are isolated sites. The majority of the burials of this period were made in stone boxes.147 But little tumuli also occur during this period in small numbers (Fig. 65). A common feature of the graves of this era is their roughly E–W orientation. The box graves conform completely to this practice, whereas it is only the substructure of the tumuli that are oriented in this way. Grave goods are found in only very few instances, as is regularly the case for burials from Christian contexts. Box graves in the Wadi Abu Dom are often constructed with a simple lining made from stone slabs and filled with rubble (Fig. 66).148 In some cases, especially in the upper Wadi Abu Dom, there are also massive constructions of large dimensions, made completely of stone slabs (Fig. 67).149 147 For that reason, we use the term ‘Box Grave Period’ for the area of the Wadi Abu Dom (cf. chapter 4), since it remains unclear to what extent the terms ‘Medieval’ or ‘Christian’ period, well established for the Nile Valley, can be applied in the remote areas of the Bayuda (cf. chapter 8.3). 148 These graves correspond to the type FF03a-c defined by Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 9, to a certain extent. 149 These graves resemble type FF03d defined by Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 9, but especially in the upper wadi they are often much larger than the examples they cite.

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Fig. 64: ‘Box graves’ in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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Fig. 65: Medieval tumulus 5364-9, 3D SFM-model (model J. Eger).

Fig. 66: ‘Box grave’ 5364-13 with rubble filling in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 67: Large ‘box grave’ 9278-2 in the upper Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

All in all, 1342 box graves were documented within the Wadi Abu Dom. In the lower wadi, large box grave cemeteries, found in the immediate vicinity of the monastery of Ghazali, are obviously closely associated with it. Other rather prominent box grave cemeteries are located quite near the (earlier) constructions of Umm Ruweim 2 and Umm Khafour (cf. chapter 6.3.4.1), and oriented in relation to their outer walls. Since the box graves were obviously built of stone slabs taken from the monastery’s walls, a functional relationship between them is less likely; more probably, the graves are oriented with respect to the buildings simply because the latter, which had already fallen into ruin, provided a convenient source of building material. In the middle WadiAbu Dom, box grave cemeteries are often closely connected with existing tumuli graveyards on the terraces of the wadi banks (Fig. 68). This raises the – yet unanswered – question of whether there is a direct link between the ‘Terrace Tumuli’ and the ‘Box Grave Periods’, perhaps attributable to the rising influence of Christianity, even in such remote areas of the Bayuda. Direct associations of box grave cemeteries with other categories of archaeological evidence – settlements in particular – cannot be demonstrated for the middle Wadi Abu Dom. In the upper Wadi Abu Dom, on the other hand, some box grave cemeteries are closely associated with settlement structures (Figs. 35 & 36). Within the upper wadi, the absolute number of box graves is significantly higher than in other

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Fig. 68: Cemetery 15530 consisting of ‘terrace tumuli’ and ‘box graves’ in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background image W.A.D.I.).

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parts of the wadi. The graveyards as a whole are also quite large; indeed, the largest box grave cemeteries of the WadiAbu Dom (outside the immediate vicinity of the Ghazali monastery) are found here. One prominent example is cemetery 10607 with more than 140 individual graves. The different distribution patterns of box grave cemeteries in the middle and the upper Wadi Abu Dom are quite remarkable. The fact that, in the middle wadi, box grave cemeteries are associated with other, long-term and quite densely occupied burial grounds with (topographically) large catchment areas, but are, in the upper wadi, directly related to adjacent settlements, shows that box graves were used by sedentary as well as non-sedentary groups. Obviously, both economic and cultural complexes shared the same burial practices. The distribution pattern and the total number of box graves (as well as the habitation sites discussed above, cf. chapter 6.3.3) show that the ‘Box Grave Period’ is very well represented in the upper Wadi Abu Dom, especially on the pediments of the Jebel Sultaniya and the Jebel Ras ed-Dom. The size of the box graves varies from flat installations with only a single layer of stone slabs to those with nearly monumental superstructures, 3 m long and 1.5 m high. The latter are also concentrated primarily in the upper Wadi Abu Dom. It is quite clear from the archaeological record that the upper wadi, especially the pediments of the rocky areas north and west of the wadi’s main course, was a fertile area during the ‘Box Grave Period’, capable of supporting a sedentary lifestyle and economic subsistence. The surplus produced by the local economy must have been sufficient for the erection of the large number of monumental graves. Test excavations of some individual box graves were carried out in the middle Wadi Abu Dom. It was found out that box graves were not the only type of burials made during of the ‘Box Grave Period’. Two small tumuli displayed features of Christian burials, and were datable by radiocarbon samples taken from a shroud to the 9th c. AD, and thus contemporaneous with the box graves in the same cemetery. In other words, traditional burial customs of pre-Christian times were still in use under the influence of a Christian culture.150

6.5 Rock Art Rock art is a common archaeological feature in the WadiAbu Dom, although it is not distributed equally along its banks (Figs. 69 & 70). Of 197 examples of rock art throughout the wadi, 167 are situated in the lower wadi, 10 in the middle, and 20 in the upper wadi. The lower Wadi Abu Dom is the most prominent rock art area, not only because most examples are found there but also the most complex depictions and the widest variety of motifs; in the middle and the upper Wadi Abu Dom the number and the variety of motifs is significantly smaller. In the lower Wadi Abu Dom, the depiction of cattle is a major motif, along with geometric patterns, various anthropomorphic figures, and other themes. In the middle wadi, only camels and Christian motifs (for example, crosses) occur. In the upper wadi, the number, complexity, and variety of the motifs increases slightly, to include mainly camels and Christian motifs, but also cattle, sandal prints, and one geometric motif often dated to the Meroitic period. The technique, in contrast to the motifs and distribution pattern of rock art, is, in general, rather similar at all sites.The motifs are picked into the smooth surfaces of larger rocks; paintings and linear incision are undocumented. Only the technique used to produce linear designs is 150 Cf. Eger & Kołosowska in this volume.

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different from that employed for embossed motifs. Since both methods occur regularly side by side in the same panels, they do not seem to be of much functional or chronological relevance, but rather simply aesthetically motivated alternatives to vary the motifs. The most prominent rock art spots in the Wadi Abu Dom are sites 29, 31, 40, 42, and 202 in the lower, and 8786 and 12215 in the upper Wadi Abu Dom. Many of these sites, especially the more prominent ones, are part of clusters where several rock art stations are found in immediate proximity to each other. For example, sites 29, 31, 40, and 42 are situated along the rocky banks of one single khor south of the main wadi. In the upper Wadi Abu Dom, sites 8786 and 12215 are parts of two agglomerations of different rock art stations. Site 29, a solitary boulder (with a recent building on top of it) near the southern bank of the main wadi, forms the richest and most complex rock art station in the entire Wadi Abu Dom (Figs. 71 & 72).151 In over 30 panels, many cattle and also anthropomorphic and geometric motifs are depicted. The most elaborate one shows a long-horned bull with some kind of collar (Fig. 73). The style is very distinctive – the hoofs are open and almost claw-shaped while some entirely picked areas between the legs seem to resemble a skirt or kilt. The numerous representations of cattle at other rock art sites in the neighborhood of the Wadi Abu Dom, especially in the very well documented region of the 4th Cataract, furnish no obvious parallels; the closest comparable depictions of cattle are found in Lower Nubia.152 Another notable motif from site 29 is a dot below a semi-circle (Fig. 74). Besides a purely geometric interpretation, it could also represent an astronomical phenomenon, perhaps the moon together with a bright star (or perhaps the planet Venus). The moon depicted as a semi-circle is a symbol employed in many early Semitic cultures, including that of ancient Ethiopia,153 but it is not common in Nubia. Nevertheless, it also made its way into Islamic heraldry; since the patina is not very strong, possibly the depiction is quite young, deriving from the use of that symbol during the Ottoman era (which influenced the contemporary Turkish coat-of-arms). At site 31, camels are the most frequently encountered motif, together with several Christian symbols and one bow-shaped design made by picking (Fig. 75).154 Since this specific way of depicting a bow also occurs quite often in the graffiti corpora compiled in different buildings in the Butana and is mostly dated to the Medieval period there,155 the combination of the camels and the Christian motifs suggests that the rock art at site 31 may date entirely to the Medieval era. Christian Medieval rock art is also present south of site 31 within the same khor at sites 40 and 42, located at the rocky origin of the khor, directly opposite each other. Site 40, situated near the top plateau of a ridge, displays a cross and another geometric motif together below a kind of roof or baldachin. At the edge of the same rock art panel, there is a large rock gong which, when sounded, can be heard quite a distance down into the khor. Directly associated with the rock art are some Greek inscriptions, most simply mentioning the name ‘Michael’,156 as well as some habitation remains including Medieval pottery on top of the ridge. 151 152 153 154 155 156

See Karberg 2009: 132–136; Karberg 2014: 1136–1137. Sukova 2011: Pl. 97, Ref.-No. 643. For example on the famous stela of Matara (Ullendorff 1951: Pl. III). See Karberg 2009: 136–137. Kleinitz in prep. Cf. Tsakos in this volume.

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Fig. 69: Rock art and its main motifs in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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Fig. 70: Rock art and its main motifs in the lower WadiAbu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

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Fig. 71: Plan of the rock art station site 29 in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

Fig. 72: Rock art station site 29 in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 73: Cattle depiction 29-3 (drawing T. Karberg).

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Fig. 74: Rock art with ‘star and crescent’motif 29-12 (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 76: Church depiction at rock art panel 42-1 (drawing T. Karberg).

Fig. 75: Bow-shaped rock drawing 31-2 (photo W.A.D.I.).

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The combination of these three types of archaeological evidence leads to the conclusion that the rock art and inscriptions belong to a very small and remote Christian settlement – perhaps the hermitage of an anchorite who was associated with the larger Christian settlement and monastery of Ghazali. Almost opposite, but not on top of a hill though close to the khor bed, there is a solitary boulder bearing several more Christian motifs, among them the depiction of a church (Fig. 76) and of an armed rider (Fig. 77).157 The church – a large building with a triple nave – is the only representation of its kind in the Wadi Abu Dom. This unique representation could possibly depict an idealized church or, alternatively, represent the nearby church of Ghazali itself. The identification of the armed rider is problematic. In Nubian (as well as Coptic) Christianity the veneration of knights like St. George and St. Merkurios as saints is quite popular, but there is no aureole identifiable at the figure’s head. Perhaps he is not a saint but a person like King Merkurios of Makuria, who was sometimes also depicted in a similar pose as the sainted knight with the same name.158 The character of site 202 (cf. also chapter 6.2) is completely different.159 It is situated on both sides of a strait of a large khor south of the lower Wadi Abu Dom, and comprises mainly very strongly patinated depictions of spirals (Fig. 78) and net-shaped geometric patterns (Fig. 79). In another panel, a few cattle and camels are shown, but the spiral and net motifs are by far the major feature of the site. The images of cattle and camels have a much more noticeable patina, indicative of great antiquity, than the geometric pickings. The motifs themselves also point to an ancient, probably Neolithic, date for the site. In other regions such as Upper Nubia,160 the central Sahara,161 and the Egyptian Eastern Desert,162 spiral motifs are quite frequent, and, for several reasons, datable among the oldest depictions within the specific rock art corpora. Another indication of the antiquity of this rock art station in the Wadi Abu Dom are concentrations of Neolithic finds on top of a ridge and at a khor bank immediately east of the site with which they might be connected. The two major rock art stations of the upper WadiAbu Dom are sites 8786 and 12215.At the former are found the only cattle representations outside the lower Wadi Abu Dom. The picking shows a cow with a calf (Fig. 80); the patina is significantly thicker than on several camel motifs nearby, indicating greater antiquity. Dating the depictions precisely is quite difficult, but there are at least two clues. The geometric pattern at site 9116 in the vicinity is quite similar to pictographic signs found in rock art at the 4th Cataract – for example, in Kirbekan and on several islands in its vicinity, but also in the graffiti corpora of several buildings and as pot marks often dated to the Meroitic period, especially in the Great Enclosure of Musawwarat es-Sufra.163 Secondly, at the structure of El-Tuweina, large amounts of cattle bones were found, documenting the presence of cattle in the upper Wadi Abu Dom in Late Meroitic times. For these reasons, a dating of the cattle depictions to the Meroitic period is conceivable. At site 12215 there are also a large variety of motifs – a giraffe (Fig. 81), camels, and a pair of sandal prints (Fig. 82). The patina varies significantly. The giraffe is noticeably patinated, the 157 158 159 160 161 162 163

See Karberg 2009: 137–138; Karberg 2014: 1139–1140. Scholz 2005. See Karberg 2014: 1140–1141. Allard-Huard 1993: 153. Leclant & Huard 1980: 303. Morrow & Morrow 2002: 107. Kleinitz 2007b.

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Fig. 77: Depiction of an armed rider at rock art panel 42-1 (drawing T. Karberg).

Fig. 78: Rock art with spiral motif 202-4 (drawing T. Karberg).

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Fig. 79: Net-shaped rock art depiction 202-3 (drawing T. Karberg).

Fig. 80: Rock art depiction of a cow with calf, panel 8786-1 (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 81: Rock art image of a giraffe, panel 12215-2 (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 82: Rock art image of a sandal print, panel 12215-5 (photo W.A.D.I.).

sandal prints to some extent, and the camels only slightly. This fits quite well with analogous representations. Giraffes could have been depicted during earlier, more humid periods; sandal prints are a common motif in graffiti corpora presumably datable to the Meroitic period;164 while the camels do not occur in the Nubian rock art corpus before the Medieval era.165 In general, the distribution patterns of rock art, especially the depictions of cattle, over the lower, the middle, and the upper Wadi Abu Dom correspond well with the density of the archaeological record, interpreted to preserve traces of a sedentary lifestyle, and the presence of elite architecture. The depictions of cattle could probably be related to the presence of beef in the diet of the inhabitants of El-Tuweina.

6.6 Paths and Other Communication Infrastructure One major goal of the survey project in the Wadi Abu Dom was the reconstruction of its historical traffic infrastructure and the ancient communication network. Both topography and ecology provide the natural potential for the Wadi Abu Dom to be used as a route for long 164 See, for example, Qasr Ibrim with nearly 400 graffiti of this form (Rose 1996: 102–107). 165 Budka 2004: 111–112.

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Fig. 83: Bundle of short and middle ranged paths crossing a ridge in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

distance traffic between the two main political and religious centers of the Kushite Empire, Napata and Meroe. The project was therefore looking for remains of such an ancient system connecting these metropolises, assumed by many authors.166 In the archaeological record, many traces of paths and other mobility infrastructure were documented (Fig. 83). But their significance for the reconstruction of ancient traffic patterns is open to question, since most are extremely difficult to date. Paths determined by natural features are, in general, frequented over very long periods, down until recent times. In fact, no paths recorded archaeologically have been completely abandoned even today. Presumably, historical mobility patterns resembled those observable in modern times to some extent. In the few cases where their use is clearly datable by surface finds, most paths can be associated with material attributable to the ‘Box Grave Period’. This correlates quite well with the observation that simple camp sites intended for short-term use – and thus indicators of mobility167 – could also be dated to the (late) ‘Box Grave Period’ by trial soundings. The path networks visible at the surface cannot be traced back to the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’, which correlates chronologically to the era of the Napatan and Meroitic states. 166 For example Shinnie 1991: 50. 167 However, only the simple camp sites that were mainly documented at the lower Wadi Abu Dom can be interpreted in that way. Other camp features, like the gravel platforms especially widespread in the middle, but also in the upper wadi, turned out to be installations intended for short term as well as long term use, and thus are not to be seen as unequivocal indicators for a mobile lifestyle.

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Moreover, the structure of the path system does not indicate linear communication patterns, but merely short-range and network-like concepts of mobility. The remains of paths clearly datable to specific historical periods correlate with mobility patterns adapted to short-range economic activity with a strong pastoral component. The role played by long-distance trade and transportation in determining patterns of communication remains unclear. It is feasible that the local population functioned as experts for special traffic demands under desert conditions and that they used their pastoral communication infrastructure secondarily for long-range traffic. This leads to the question of how long-distance trade and traffic was organized in the Napatan and Meroitic Empires. It is assumed that core elements of long-distance trade were monopolies of the state during the Kushite era,168 as they were in other contemporaneous states in the eastern Mediterranean.169 On the other hand, even if the general profit from trade was under central authority, this must not have been the case for the actual transport of goods, which might have been in the hands of local experts in desert environments, as in more recent times.170 At other places with desert fringe conditions, such as the Egyptian Mediterranean coast, secondary use of the infrastructure of short-range, pastoral traffic patterns for long-distance communication is documented,171 which cannot categorically be excluded for the Bayuda. The density of archaeological features in the hinterland of the Wadi Abu Dom declines as the distance from the wadi increases, but path networks are still a significant record within these

Fig. 84: Wells in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA). 168 169 170 171

Welsby 2003: 175. Yon 2016: 347–348. For example by the Tuareg of the Western Sahara (Liverani 2000). Vetter et al. 2013: 480–481.

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areas. This suggests that there were possibly two different land use patterns depending on the distance to the main wadi’s banks – a ‘land for living’ and a ‘land for travelling’. The same traffic patterns are in use down to the present. Automobile tracks often generally follow the course of the wadi, though not along the sandy wadi bed, but at some distance from it, in the elevated, rocky hinterland, to avoid obstacles like deep sandy areas at the mouth of khors or similar topographical features, as well as to keep interference with settlements or irrigated areas directly adjacent to the terraces on the banks of the wadi at a minimum.

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Fig. 85: Schematic drawing of a typical well of the lower Wadi Abu Dom with primary and small secondary platform (drawing T. Karberg).

6.7 Wells In all three sections of the Wadi Abu Dom, several wells were documented during the archaeological survey (Fig. 84). The layout of most of the wells in the lower Wadi Abu Dom differs significantly from those in the middle and upper wadi. In the lower wadi, especially at the oasis between Umm Ruweim and Quweib, the main shaft of a well is round or oval, up to 6 m in diameter. Although dug up to 8 m deep into the sediment of the wadi bed, the main shaft usually does not reach the ground water level but terminates in a kind of platform, 2 to 3 m above it. From this platform, a secondary, much narrower shaft extends down to reach the ground water. If the depth of the ground water is rather deep, then the well was provided with a step-like construction at the side between the surface and the main shaft at the outer edge, producing a ground plan slightly resembling a keyhole (Figs. 85 & 86).

Fig. 86: Well with ancient stone lining, reinforced with concrete after an exceptional high flood in 1978 (photo H. Berkahn).

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The main shaft and the additional step are lined with stone slabs; the narrow secondary shaft is usually not lined.172 The soil through which those sections provided with a lining were dug is possibly less compact (geologically younger) than harder strata below.173 But this postulation does not explain the wide diameter of the upper, stone-lined section of the well shaft, a feature not present at the wells of the middle and lower Wadi Abu Dom. Wells of this type continue in use today in many cases, despite some indicators of antiquity. Their primary purpose is the irrigation of gardens, fields, and palm tree plantations in the oases. Nowadays, a diesel engine sits on the platform at the bottom of the main shaft, pumping water from the secondary shaft to the surface. Data currently available is not adequate to reconstruct what types of devices may have been employed for this purpose in the less recent past. A series of shadufs with differing rope lengths would be a possible solution, since they would be able to lift water higher than the usual limit of a single shaduf which is determined by the maximum length of its beam.174 Such a proposal would also explain the different platforms within the well construction.175 Simple lifting devices using ropes and pulleys would also be possible, but then the wide main shaft observed in this well type would not only be superfluous but also a hindrance. However, no archaeological evidence for any type of device to lift water has yet been found, because no soundings of the well’s surroundings have been conducted so far. In the middle and upper Wadi Abu Dom, the type of well just described is not documented. In both areas, wells conform to a completely different plan (Fig. 87). In most cases, they have comparatively narrow cylindrical shafts, dug vertically down to a depth of 16 m into the sediment of the wadi bed until reaching the ground water level. A point of similarity with wells in the lower wadi is the lining constructed of stone slabs, which is often, but not always, present.176 Some of the wells in the upper Wadi Abu Dom are equipped with diesel-powered pumps today, as in the lower wadi, but most of them still make use of human muscle power or beasts of burden to lift the water with a rope, bucket by bucket. Dating the construction of the different well types in the Wadi Abu Dom is still rather problematic. The high density of archaeological site clusters, especially from the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’, around the modern well-irrigated oases of the lower wadi might indicate that the wells and the oasis they irrigate already existed at that time. But so far, neither archaeological evidence from the oasis nor comparisons with other well constructions supports this suggestion. There are no wells yet unambiguously documented from Meroitic times – in that period, harvesting of surface water by so-called hafirs was obviously the main source of irrigation.177 These hafirs, which represent one of the most prominent archaeological site categories in the Butana and Keraba, are not present at all in the Wadi Abu Dom (although, to some extent in the Bayuda south of the Wadi Abu Dom). For the Napatan period, only two

172 173 174 175

Lohwasser & Karberg 2013: 43–44. Patricia Göbel, personal communication. Similar constructions of shaduf ‘batteries’ are known from sub-recent Egypt (Jomard 1817: Pl. VI). For Pharaonic Egypt, Ahmed Galal considers the possibility of such constructions (Galal 1989). For the well he documented at Tell el-Amarna, he nevertheless excludes such an option since intermediate platforms necessary for such a device are lacking. 176 Lohwasser & Karberg 2013: 44. 177 For Meroitic water harvesting constructions cf. Hinkel 2015; Scheibner 2014.

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Fig. 87: Small well with cylindrical shaft, feature 10600-1 (photo W.A.D.I.).

wells have been recorded, at Dokki Gel178 and El-Kurru.179 In both cases, access to the ground water level was provided by staircase constructions – a layout completely different from the wells of the Wadi Abu Dom. Nor are wells with a design similar to those recorded in the Wadi Abu Dom known in Egypt.180 Based on the absence of stratigraphic evidence from the Wadi Abu Dom wells, there are also no indications that they could be contemporaneous with the monuments from the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ around the oasis of Umm Ruweim. Surface investigation of the spoil heaps at some well sites in the lower wadi revealed large amounts of pottery dating to the Medieval period, but no older wares. Since the spoil heaps were piled up when the wells were cleaned,181 the ceramics provide a terminus ante quem for the wells’ construction. Because we could not document any finds from earlier periods at the well sites, they are dated, as a working hypothesis, to the ‘Box Grave Period’ that is contemporaneous with the Medieval age. If this turns out to be correct, the densely clustered archaeological sites from the earlier ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ around the oasis of El-Rum would indicate that the region was already defined at that time as ecologically favored by surface water alone. More information about the age of the wells of the Wadi Abu Dom and the beginnings of irrigated oasis horticulture there can only be revealed by future archaeological investigations. 178 179 180 181

Bonnet 2003: 273–276. Kendall 1999: 48–49. Franzmeier 2008. Inhabitants of the El-Rum oasis, personal communication.

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6.8 Miscellaneous Archaeological Features There are also several other elements of the cultural landscape whose function and age is not easy to determine – among them, linear ‘stone settings’.182 Linear stone settings occur infrequently in the Wadi Abu Dom – six were documented during our survey. These structures are not real walls, since they are just stone slabs set in a row, in many cases just one layer wide as well as high. The length ranges from a few meters up to (in one case) more than 300 m (Fig. 88). Neither to the left nor the right was any other stone or rubble debris found, indicating that these linear settings, when they were in use, were most probably no higher than they are now. The possibility cannot be discounted that they once supported lightweight, vegetal architecture, like a hasir fence, but most probably they were just visual demarcations. Local people tell us that similar structures near the banks of the Nile are quite recent, and indeed, such demarcations do define land to be used by pastoralists as grazing grounds, so that they do not impinge upon irrigated agriculture. But the topographical situation of the stone settings in the Wadi Abu Dom does not support this explanation since they are not obviously situated between different types of landscape. Additionally, it remains unclear whether the linear stone settings within the Nile Valley are of the same date as those documented in the Wadi Abu Dom, far distant from a riverine context. It is simply impossible as yet to determine the age of these linear stone settings in the Wadi Abu Dom. Other peculiar archaeological features occurring rather frequently, especially in the lower Wadi Abu Dom, are fields covered with round pits, between 0.5 and more than 2 m in diameter, set in regular patterns. The purpose of these pits is unknown. One of our ideas was that the pit fields were all that remained of plantations.183 But our trial soundings in two pits of site 279 (Fig. 89) yielded no traces of soil having been placed in them nor any root or root channel

Fig. 88: Feature 6833-1: Stone setting in the southern hinterland of the upper Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg, background image Bing maps, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Microsoft Corp.). 182 Cf. also Gabriel in this volume. 183 Cf. Gabriel in this volume.

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remains.184 Another possible explanation might be that raw material – pebbles of a particular size, for example – was ‘mined’ from them for some specific purpose, but why then dig them so regularly across a field? A third category of stone constructions in the Wadi Abu Dom and its khors are dam-shaped structures (Fig. 90). Five were documented during our survey – two in the upper and three in the middle wadi. All are of rather small dimensions (the largest measuring Fig. 89: Pit field 279-3 (photo W.A.D.I.). only 7 m in length); to erect them would not have required greater amounts of labor.185 Since they were installed within khors of the main wadi, they are most likely water management or harvesting installations. In the upper wadi, two examples are found at the pediment of the large Jebel Sultaniya/Jebel Musran area which functioned as a catchment area for rainfall. Since the khors running southwards from the jebel to the main wadi already canalized surface water, the small dams within these khors obviously helped to regulate the surface water temporarily occurring there.

Fig. 90: Dam structures in the WadiAbu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA). 184 At other excavated plantation pits, dug under similar soil and climatic conditions – for example at Musawwarat es-Sufra (cf. Mucha & Scheibner 2001: 27–29) – both soil and roots were clearly visible even when the pits had not been used for a time, so it seems quite unlikely that any of these otherwise typical plantation remains had once been present at site 279, only to vanish completely over time. 185 But they differ significantly from the water harvesting devices described by Welsby 2003: 72–73 as “wadi walls”.

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The examples from the middle Wadi Abu Dom are much stranger. All three are very close to each other, within a circular area only 120 m in diameter (Fig. 91). Their function as water managing devices is relatively clear, thanks to the manner of their construction and their location immediately inside a khor (Fig. 92), but they are situated in the rocky hinterland, without any direct connection to arable land. Perhaps they were just used as an alternative to the wells in the wadi bed for watering animals during the rainy season. These installations, particularly since they seem to occur only at very specific spots, could have played a certain role in the Wadi Abu Dom water management, supplementing the wells. No datable material was associated with these dam-like structures, nor was there any other clear indication of their age. Any attribution of these intriguing features of the cultural landscape to specific patterns of land use remains highly speculative. Another category of archaeological features of problematic function comprises installations that we interpret as storage facilities (Fig. 93). They can be divided into two sub-classes: ‘stone box’and ‘cleft deposits’on the one hand, ‘stone ring deposits’on the other. Probably both kinds of constructions, even if they served a similar purpose, had quite different intended functions which influenced their specific design as well as their typical locations. The deposits made in a kind of stone box (or sometimes inserted into rock clefts) are not very often found in the Wadi Abu Dom. 48 examples of this type of installation were documented which could be interpreted as storage containers. The size can be quite small, sometimes not more than 30 x 30 x 30 cm. In most cases, we found them empty, but at site 9030, a small quantity of quartz pebbles, obviously collected at a nearby ridge and afterwards deposited in the stone box, was documented (Fig. 94). It is very difficult to date these installations, since most were empty. The thinness of the patina on some of the stones even suggested that they were quite recent. The other class of deposits consists of stone rings; in most cases, they are definitely too small to have served as habitation structures but could have functioned as storage facilities. Of course, distinguishing stone ring settlement features from stone ring storage facilities based on the size of the installation alone can only be tentative. Generally speaking, we assume that stone rings with a diameter of less than 1.5 m were more probably used as storage rather than as habitation sites (cf. also chapter 6.3.3). Most of these small stone rings were found on top of ridges or in association with pathways. The larger stone rings interpreted as settlement remains were distributed more equally over the landscape, but often situated on terraces or within valleys and pediments between the ridges. The fact that the ‘stone ring deposits’ were often made at places visible from a distance led us to assume that their function differed from that of the ‘stone box deposits’. The rings were quite obviously available for everyone’s use, and so were probably only intended to protect some goods from animals. For the same reason, deposits of different materials used by the non-sedentary population of the Wadi Abu Dom were installed in trees along the wadi bed until recent times – in the hinterland, in the absence of trees a different method had to be found. The ‘stone box deposits’, on the other hand, may have served a completely different purpose. They are mostly quite concealed and only visible to someone directly beside them.186 They were intended not only to protect the goods stored within them from wild animals, the wind, or other natural threats, but also from discovery by other humans. 186 In fact, the small number of this category of deposits documented in the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary survey might also have resulted from their being more easily overlooked during the ground survey.

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Fig. 91: Features 1659-1, 1661-1 and 1662-2: Three dam-shaped structures in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg, background image Bing maps, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Microsoft Corp.).

Fig. 92: Dam 1661-1 in a northern tributary khor of the middle Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 93: Different types of storage facilities in the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, USGS, NOAA).

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A last category of archaeological evidence for which no clear function can be proposed for the present are the so-called ‘paved platforms’ – round features roughly 2 m in diameter paved with flat stone slabs. 105 of these platforms are distributed throughout the Wadi Abu Dom. Sites consisting of this type of feature often include as many as 15 platforms, roughly 20–25 m distant from each other. In an attempt to clarify their function, we excavated five of them (Fig. 95). The surrounding surface was cleared in hopes of revealing potential structures (for example, posthole settings), and the soil Fig. 94: Stone box storage feature 9030-1 in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (photo W.A.D.I.). beneath the platforms was invasively studied (cf. chapter 5.2). Since no structures were unearthed beneath or around any of the platforms, it can be excluded that they were graves or part of larger constructions employing lightweight architecture.

Fig. 95: Paved platform 9179-4 after surface cleaning (photo W.A.D.I.).

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In and around some of these platforms, lenticular ash accumulations were found, that could be radiocarbon dated to the late ‘Box Grave Period’.187 The ceramics associated with the platforms are difficult to date, even if they display characteristics of household wares. But in fact, the pottery assemblages, as well as the presence or absence of ash accumulations, differ significantly from platform to platform,188 so it cannot be said whether all of them served the same purpose. Similar paved platforms, defined as feature type P03 in the typology of Borcowski and Welsby,189 were also documented at the 4th Cataract. Exemplary trial excavations near Hadiab did not reveal any subterranean structures, ceramics, or charcoal accumulations.190 Since these findings differ from those at most platforms in the Wadi Abu Dom, it is not clear whether the structural resemblance of the 4th Cataract paved platforms to those in the Wadi Abu Dom is related to a similar function and date, or purely coincidental.

7. Significant Agglomerations of Archaeological Features In the Wadi Abu Dom, several remarkable clusters of archaeological sites are observable which most probably indicate different historical settlement and/or land use clusters (cf. also chapter 8). – The most prominent cluster of archaeological sites is situated around the oasis of El-Rum in the lower Wadi Abu Dom (Fig. 96). In general, a high density of archaeological sites could be documented here. Furthermore, four (of six) monumental buildings mapped in the Wadi Abu Dom are in the environs of this oasis with its well-fed irrigation schemes. – A little downstream, in the immediate vicinity of El-Rum, there is the (nowadays much smaller) oasis of Ghazali (Fig. 97).The monastery and settlement are the largest architectural complex of the entire Wadi Abu Dom. To date, no clear indication of a more prominent role of this part of the lower Wadi Abu Dom before the advent of Christianity has come to light. – In the middle wadi, three especially large terrace tumuli and box grave cemeteries, sites 5037, 3712/3713, and 16084, stand out (Fig. 98). They seem to be neither directly associated with any habitation sites of comparable dimensions, nor with wells or any other nuclei of human activity. – Another significant cluster of archaeological sites lies near the modern settlement of Bir Merwa (Fig. 99). The comparably high density here indicates that this area, nowadays characterized by a relatively large well and water-harvesting dam, was also an ecologically favored zone in antiquity. The only monumental building outside the lower wadi, the enclosure of El-Tuweina, is situated here, as well as other rather complex habitation sites and comparatively rich cemeteries.

187 188 189 190

Lohwasser et al. 2016: 82–83. In fact, the platforms with significant amounts of ceramics lacked ash accumulations. Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 11. Wolf & Nowotnick 2007: 31–32.

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– In the upper Wadi Abu Dom, the Jebel Sultaniya, Musran, and Ras ed-Dom pediment areas display a high density of archaeological features (Fig. 100), especially when compared to the low density of occupation in this area today – particularly at the Jebel Ras ed-Dom above the dendritic branches of the wadi, an area which is now virtually uninhabited. The ancient sites date mostly to the ‘Box Grave Period’.

8. Conclusions The surface records from the Wadi Abu Dom and their spatial analysis allow for a number of conclusions to be drawn about different cultural-historical processes. Questions about the economy and subsistence of the inhabitants in different parts of the wadi during the ages, the mobility of diverse groups within the local population, and the relationship of the desert cultures of the Bayuda to the Nile Valley with its centers of political administration are the focus of these considerations. Comparisons between the lower, middle, and upper Wadi Abu Dom, in terms of the general archaeological and topographical record, reveal several points of divergence which are partly (but not in every respect) consistent with the settlement structure of recent times. At first glance, the lower Wadi Abu Dom with its oases may seem characterized by a completely different settlement and economic structure than the other parts of the wadi. Several categories of archaeological features, especially those dating to the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ and the ‘Box Grave Period’, are more or less exclusively documented in the lower wadi: monumental architecture, a special type of well (cf. chapter 6.7), and archaeological indicators of specific mobility patterns which are most probably connected with a functional division between irrigated land and areas exclusively reserved as grazing grounds for the pastoral components of the society. Comparable settlement patterns are also found within the modern lower wadi. Nowadays, durable mud-brick architecture is used almost exclusively in this area, declining rapidly at the margin of the middle wadi upstream of Umm Beida. In the middle and upper wadi, modern habitation sites are almost entirely lightweight architecture made from vegetal materials.191 In one case, these parallels between historical and modern patterns of settlement and subsistence do not apply. During the ‘Box Grave Period’ several habitation sites existed in the upper Wadi Abu Dom which were most probably intended for long-term use and an (at least partly) sedentary lifestyle. These settlements, seen in combination with large and elaborated box grave cemeteries, indicate that this part of the wadi was relatively densely populated at the time, by contrast to the very low number of terrace tumuli, but also the quite low population density here in modern times.192 The Jebel Sultaniya, Musran, and Ras ed-Dom pediments clearly created an ecologically favored zone in the ‘Box Grave Period’, but neither before nor after. The mouths of the khors descending from the rain catchments up in the rocky jebels preserve traces indicative of accommodating large amounts of flowing surface water. These traces cannot be dated precisely, but they do show that these pediment zones could support 191 Eigner 2016: 91, Plan 2. 192 The only exception is the modern fertile area around the well of Bir Merwa at the ‘border’ between the middle and the upper Wadi Abu Dom.

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Fig. 96: The micro-oasis of El-Rum (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA,AEX, Getmapping,Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

Fig. 97: The micro-oasis of Ghazali (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA,AEX, Getmapping,Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

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Fig. 98: Large ‘terrace tumuli’ and ‘box grave’ cemeteries and wells in the middle Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/ Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

Fig. 99: The ecologically favoured zone around Bir Merwa (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

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Fig. 100: The Jebel Ras ed-Dom area at the source of the Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

Fig. 101: Alluvial fan at the pediment of Jebel Musran in the upper Wadi Abu Dom (map T. Karberg; background map ESRI, DigitalGlobe, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, NOAA, AEX, Getmapping, Aerogrid, IGN, IGP, swisstopo).

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rain-fed sedentary subsistence from time to time at the very least. Whether the ‘Box Grave Period’ was one of these eras should be a focus of future archaeological and geomorphological investigations. In the following chapters, some observations and interpretations with regard to specific cultural aspects of the lower, middle, and upper WadiAbu Dom are made and their implications discussed.

8.1 Settlement and Subsistence History in the Different Parts of the Wadi Abu Dom 8.1.1 The Lower Wadi Abu Dom In the lower Wadi Abu Dom, the two oases of Ghazali and El-Rum near the archaeological site of Umm Ruweim represent a relatively densely populated settlement nucleus in modern times. This corresponds to a significant density of certain archaeological site categories – especially larger architecture – representative of different epochs around these modern oases. Other categories of the archaeological record (for example, graves) are distributed rather homogeneously within the whole lower wadi. The few large concentrations of graves are directly associated with monumental buildings. It is quite likely that the double cemetery 515/531 at the southern wadi terrace, directly opposite Umm Ruweim, with a total of 48 terrace tumuli, is associated with this monumental site, and the box grave cemeteries around the monastery of Ghazali (cemeteries 47, 48, 49, and 52 with altogether 420 box graves) are directly connected to this Christian center. Outside these centers, cemeteries in the lower Wadi Abu Dom are usually rather small, and distributed homogeneously along its banks. This distribution pattern probably results from the widespread sedentary lifestyle here in comparison to other parts of the wadi and to the vast area of the Bayuda as a whole. This sedentary settlement structure is not only extrapolated from recent habitation patterns, but also indicated by the amount of complex, kraal-shaped hut constructions within the lower wadi. Of 219 complex habitation sites with several rooms, as documented in the entire wadi, 141 lie along the lower Wadi Abu Dom. It should not be forgotten, however, that the settlement structure in the lower wadi is not completely visible in the archaeological record. Today, most of the more durable dwellings are erected on the wadi bank terraces, but some habitation sites are also present in the wadi bed. Due to the regular flooding of this area, similar constructions of the past cannot be expected to have left considerable remains in the archaeological record. 8.1.1.1 The development of the oases in the lower Wadi Abu Dom from the ‘Terrace Tumuli’ to the ‘Box Grave Period’ As demonstrated above, the distribution patterns of different archaeological categories show that since the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ at the latest, the lower Wadi Abu Dom most probably had an economic and cultural structure that differed significantly from other parts of the wadi. The overall density of archaeological features is much higher than in the middle and upper wadi – and in most other parts of the Bayuda as well. Moreover, the layout of most wells from the lower wadi, some of them dating as early as the ‘Box Grave Period’ (cf. chapter 6.7), is © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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completely at odds with the layout of wells in other parts of the wadi. Even if direct traces of oasis agriculture from historic times are not forthcoming, the wells had the potential to deliver enough water for irrigating larger fields or gardens. The presence of several productive wells, the concentration of monumental architecture, and the generally high density of archaeological features around the modern oases might indicate that they existed from the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ at the latest. Even if the function of the monumental buildings at Umm Ruweim, Umm Khafour, and Quweib cannot yet be explained straightforwardly, it may be assumed that the construction and maintenance of such large structures would have been impossible without the (presumably) local economy being sufficiently stable to produce a surplus. One yet unanswered question concerning the relationship of the monumental structures to the local culture and economy is how these buildings (and their assumed dating to the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’) might relate to the observation that none of the large wells of the oasis can be unequivocally dated earlier than the ‘Box Grave Period’. Archaeological investigation may eventually demonstrate that the wells are older, but it is equally possible that a sufficient surplus might have been produced by rain-supported rather than well-supported agri- and/or horticulture during the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’. Discussions of the possibility of a socio-economic change between the ‘Terrace Tumuli’ and the ‘Box Grave Period’ should take the observation into consideration that the box graves next to the buildings of Umm Ruweim 2 and Umm Khafour were erected with wall debris from those structures. The conclusion is valid that they were no longer functioning by this time, which suggests some social discontinuity between these periods. However, the assumption that well-fed irrigation schemes were introduced in the lower Wadi Abu Dom in the ‘Box Grave Period’, contemporary with the Medieval states of the Nile Valley, is hard to correlate with current knowledge about the palaeo-climate of North-Eastern Africa. Globally, an episode of warming is widely presumed between the climatic pessimum in Late Antiquity and the optimum of the Medieval period. But the effect on the regional climate of the Bayuda region is still not fully understood. The Bayuda is situated on the fringe between greater Northeast Africa, where the warming trend resulted in drier conditions, and the central Sahel and the eastern Mediterranean where the generally warmer climate produced increased rainfall.193 For the middle Nile region, precise palaeo-climatological research has been undertaken so far only punctually. In the desert regions west of the Nile, extensive climatological investigations were included in the research projects of the University of Cologne and the Technical University Berlin – but the time span covered stretches only down to the early Napatan period while later climatic episodes are by far less well known.194 Also west of the Bayuda – south and west of the Kushite town of Kawa – two secondary branches of the Nile (palaeochannels) are known.195 At least one of them was extant until the local New Kingdom era, drying up during the early 13th c. BC.196 Other palaeochannels of the Nile within the Northern Dongola Reach might have been active as late as 800 BC, and episodically even until 500 AD,197 indicating a general decrease in the Nile water level in the wider vicinity of the Bayuda during that period, although it remains unclear to what extent this allows conclusions to 193 194 195 196 197

Diaz et al. 2011: 1491. Pachur & Hoelzmann 2000. Welsby & Thomas 2014: 47, Fig. 1. Thomas 2014: 69. Macklin & Woodward 1998: 25.

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be drawn for the Wadi Abu Dom area. The latest dates assumed for episodic palaeochannels in the Dongola reach would correspond roughly with the assumed beginning of well-fed irrigation within the lower Wadi Abu Dom – but further research is needed to investigate the possible interdependency of the water regime in these specific regions. Thus, the historical character of the micro-oases of the lower Wadi Abu Dom, the beginning of well-fed irrigation in this area, and the role of climate change during the transition from the local ‘Terrace Tumuli’ to the ‘Box Grave Period’ must be the subject of future investigations. 8.1.1.2 Relations between the main wadi and the hinterland of the lower Wadi Abu Dom The significance of the wadi oases areas for the economy and subsistence of the region lead to consider the role of the hinterland and its control by the inhabitants of the lower Wadi Abu Dom. The density of archaeological sites at some distance from the banks of the wadi (from a few hundred meters to more than a kilometer, dependent upon the local topography) declines rapidly in the ‘Terrace Tumuli’ and ‘Box Grave Periods’. However, the presence of a large number of simple camp sites dating mostly to the ‘Box Grave Period’ in the hinterland shows that this area along the terraces of the khors was not void of human activity during the first clearly datable phase of well-fed irrigation in the wadi bed. Looking at the few clearly datable historical pathways in that area reveals that the ‘Box Grave Period’ is also present. Some records of human activity may have been associated with the mining of raw materials,198 but the considerable number and size of camp sites cannot be explained solely by mining. Thus, a pastoral branch of economy supplementing the irrigation schemes can also be assumed in the oasis-dominated lower Wadi Abu Dom, especially within the larger khors. Similar economic strategies are found in the wadi to some extent today. But it remains unclear how strictly the division between the different land use patterns was defined in different eras. For the ‘Ridge Tumuli Period’, predominantly represented by graves, no significant decline in the density of sites between the immediate vicinity of the wadi banks and the hinterland can be observed. In the ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’, there is some imbalance in the distribution of sites between the wadi banks and the hinterland with its khors – nevertheless, it must be noted that some tumuli (even of considerable size) were documented also along the upper khors, for example, at cemetery 157. During the ‘Box Grave Period’, however, these distribution patterns of archaeological features change completely: box grave cemeteries are concentrated along the banks of the main wadi, while in the hinterland only few individual graves are documented. Habitation sites of that period are also concentrated along the wadi banks or in their immediate vicinity. Along the terraces of the khors, the category of the simple camp sites gains in importance. For this period, there seems to exist the strictest distinction between ‘land for living’ and ‘land for travelling’. The indications for an integrated economy with agri- and horticulture as well as pastoral elements, perhaps related to a combination of sedentary and mobile lifestyles, are important when compared to the fact that rock art depictions of cattle within the Wadi Abu Dom predominate in its lower part (cf. chapter 6.5). Cattle herding is an especially suitable method for a subsistence strategy integration, since a diet of grass from grazing in the hinterland 198 Cf. Gabriel in this volume.

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supplemented with agricultural waste products meets the demands of cattle best. For a purely pastoral economy solely based on a higher share of raw fibers from grazing with lesser accessibility to water, the more easily satisfied sheep and goat are by far more suitable livestock.199 A similar integrated economy with agricultural and pastoral elements probably existed in the Keraba in Meroitic times.200 8.1.2 Evidence for a Pastoralist Economy in the Middle Wadi Abu Dom Among the habitation sites in the middle Wadi Abu Dom, southeast of Umm Beida and northwest of Bir Merwa, non-permanent habitation installations like camp sites predominate. Simple stone ring huts are also a common feature – their attribution to a mobile or sedentary lifestyle is not certain; they can perhaps be interpreted as a transitional form of habitation site between short-term camps and installations intended for long-term use (cf. chapter 6.3.3). Smaller variants of stone ring structures unsuitable for habitation may have been storage facilities, and thus presumably connected to mobility (cf. chapter 6.8). Larger and more complex habitation sites, however, are not common in the archaeological record of the middle Wadi Abu Dom. A very widespread category of archaeological sites in the middle wadi are the so-called gravel platforms (cf. chapter 6.3.2). These installations consists of rectangular settings of stone slabs, in most cases roughly 2 m long and 1 m wide, filled with a relatively homogeneous amount of rubble or grus. Ethnographical parallels suggest that they can be interpreted as bedlike structures.201 In the middle wadi, their presence most likely documents temporary camp installations, while in the upper wadi there are indications that some of the gravel platforms were also used as stationary installations within long-term settlements (cf. chapter 8.1.3). In general, layout and structure of cemeteries in the middle Wadi Abu Dom are completely different from those in the lower wadi, and, to some extent, also in the upper wadi. Considerably fewer cemeteries are recorded in the middle wadi than elsewhere. But those cemeteries present include many more individual graves. In other words, graves are, in general, much more concentrated at fewer centers. Presumably, these centers had a certain importance which led people to travel a distance to bury their dead there. Worthy of mention in this context are, for example, graveyard site 5037 with a total of 45 terrace tumuli, the double cemetery site 3712/3713 with 53 terrace tumuli, and, especially, the largest terrace tumuli cemetery of the whole WadiAbu Dom, site 16084 with 70 tumuli. During the later ‘Box Grave Period’, a certain number of smaller burials was made in all of these tumuli cemeteries, usually concentrated in one rather small area within the larger cemetery. This indicates that there was a reason to continue using these graveyards even after presumed changes in the local burial customs occurred. These burial place agglomerations are not associated with similarly concentrated habitation sites. Such a ‘disconnection’ of burial places and habitation sites might indicate a certain rate of mobility in the general lifestyle of the middle wadi, perhaps reflecting an economy based 199 Schinkel 1970: 161. 200 Karberg 2014. 201 Cf. Tschernig & Shamsalola in this volume.

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on pastoral strategies; although, a general mobility of the local population is also a possible explanation. During the ‘Ridge Tumuli Period’, however, the concentration of burials at a few central locations is not documented as clearly as in later periods. Burials accumulate in more, but smaller cemeteries, a situation not much different from within the lower Wadi Abu Dom. Interestingly, many of these ridge tumulus cemeteries are located close to small round hut settlements on the pediments. In the Wadi Abu Dom, no direct archaeological evidence for a chronological or functional connection between the ridge tumuli and the adjacent round hut settlements was noted; in other parts of the Bayuda, some indications do exist for such a connection.202 Currently, information about the development of the regional climate during the ‘Ridge Tumuli’ to ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ transition is not sufficient for postulating a change in the economic subsistence strategies during the transition from one period to the next, but the analysis of the spatial distribution patterns of the cemeteries might indicate an increase of general mobility. The reasons for as well as te scale and structure of this increase are subjects for future research. 8.1.3 The Jebel Pediments of the Upper Wadi Abu Dom as Ecologically Favored Zones As discussed above in chapter 7, the slopes and pediment zones of the rocky areas of Jebels Sultaniya, Musran, and Ras ed-Dom at the northern and western banks of the main wadi seem to play a special role in the settlement history of the Wadi Abu Dom. In general, these areas shows quite a dense distribution of archaeological sites, when compared with the southern and eastern banks as well as the middle wadi. These pediment zones are clearly distinguished not only quantitatively, but also qualitatively from those of the middle wadi. The amount of habitation sites increases significantly, and many of the settlement structures, even if they consist mostly of stone ring hut agglomerations, show characteristics of intended long-term use. The finds – especially ceramics – associated with these permanent settlements date them to the ‘Box Grave Period’. Large-scale alluvial fans are distinctive features at the mouths of many khors descending from these jebels down to the main wadi (Fig. 101), especially at the southern flank of Jebel Sultaniya. They cannot yet be dated geologically, but they do indicate the role the jebel played as a catchment area for large amounts of surface water during certain periods of history. Of course, a chronological connection between these surface water indicators and the obvious population density here during the ‘Box Grave Period’ cannot be conclusively proven, but it can be taken into consideration that during that period the pediments of the jebels of the upper Wadi Abu Dom formed an ecologically favored zone – unlike today, when the density of local population declines rapidly east of Bir Merwa.203 This would be a historical indication that the Bayuda belonged to those regions where global warming during the Medieval climate optimum resulted in higher amounts of rainfall – as in the central Sahel region, but unlike northern East Africa.204 202 Cf. Paner in this volume. 203 Eigner 2016: 90. 204 In other regions like Eastern Africa, however, global warmth episodes seem to be connected with dryer

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Traces of irrigation schemes and oasis horticulture, like wells comparable to these within the lower Wadi Abu Dom, are not documented in the immediate vicinity of the jebel settlement clusters. Thus, it can be stated that rain-fed surface water played a much greater role in the upper wadi as an ecologically favored zone during the ‘Box Grave Period’ than in the lower wadi.

8.2 The Wadi Abu Dom as Trade Route and ‘Kings’s Road’ One of the tasks initially posed for the project was determining the wadi’s infrastructure of traffic and mobility – as a trade route, as the so-called ‘King’s Road’, or as a small-scale communication network. Since the ‘Treasury’ at Sanam, situated at the mouth of the Wadi Abu Dom, has been interpreted as a collection point for exotic trade goods, implying long-distance trade, the wadi could have served as a track along which travel was eased by several means. The Wadi Abu Dom is a perfect route through the Bayuda with enough watering places and a clear track. Today, camel herds use the wadi bed, with its sandy surface well suited to their hoofs. Donkeys traverse the terraces of the wadi banks where the soil is harder, but the terrain is still mostly flat; the same usage can be assumed for the past prior to the introduction of the camel in Nubia. It would be difficult to get lost, given the continuous vegetation in the wadi itself that serves as a clearly visible natural guidance system. In fact, the Wadi Abu Dom does not cross the entire Bayuda, but only its western half. For that reason, caravans of the 18th and 19th c. used other wadis, beginning at Jebel Gilif, to reach the eastern edge of the Bayuda. Nevertheless, for a good part of the distance the Wadi Abu Dom seems to be a perfect track. The ‘Treasury’ and the enormous profane buildings in Sanam can be dated to the Napatan period of the Kingdom of Kush.205 Exotic raw materials – documenting long distance trade – and luxury items were collected, processed, and stored there; any trade route should have extended into this era. Moreover, the Kushite king (definitely in the Napatan, but most probably also in the Meroitic period) had to make his way from Meroe to Jebel Barkal for his coronation; the texts on royal stelae report that the designated king travelled from the administrative center in Meroe to the sacral center at Napata where he received the crowns fromAmun.206 In Napatan times, the corpse of the dead king was also brought to this region for his burial at Nuri. Traces of royal or at least elite presence should be visible in the Wadi Abu Dom. It has long been assumed that trade routes as well as the ‘King’s Road’ made use of the Wadi Abu Dom,207 but it turned out that none of the several tracks visible today can be clearly dated back to the time of the Kingdom of Kush. Pathways are indeed not easy to date, but in the few cases where we were able to associate them with datable material, all indications point to a later date within the ‘Box Grave Period’ (cf. chapter 5.6.). This does not categorically exclude the possibility that they had functioned earlier, but only that we did not find any proof of it. Likewise, we did not find any traces of clearly Napatan or Meroitic material culture, as conditions. In order to determine the distinct role of the Bayuda within the regional climate history (and thus to clarify the reason for the especially prominent presence of the ‘Box Grave Period’ in the upper wadi) further small-scale palaeoclimatological investigations directly at the spot within the Wadi Abu Dom would be necessary. 205 Vincentelli 2003. 206 Kormysheva 1994: 187–191. 207 Shinnie 1991: 20; Welsby 1996: Fig. 1.

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represented in the Nile Valley. Buildings of dressed stone, pottery of fine ware, or specifically Kushite motifs or typical tomb superstructures are absent. Even relics datable to the Napatan or Meroitic era like cleft burials or terrace tumuli, to be attributed to the late Meroitic period, are few and are not representative of ‘high’ or elite culture, but seems to be a local and rural variant. In fact, the lack of any cult installation or any inscription (Egyptian hieroglyphic or Meroitic) as well as any hint at royal presence led us to conclude that the ‘King’s Road’ did not run through the Wadi Abu Dom. Nor did we find any unmistakable indications for contemporaneous trade routes. It is unlikely that the structures of Umm Ruweim, Quweib, and Umm Khafour, which some have interpreted as caravanserais, actually served this purpose (cf. chapter 6.3.4.1). But the wadi could have functioned as a trade route, even in the absence of visible installations, because overnight stops do not leave archaeological traces aside from hearths – which are difficult to date without associated finds.208 Although long-distance trade was usually a royal monopoly, this is only true for commodities obtained by long distance trade, not for the enterprise itself.209 It could be assumed that royal authority was effective in the Nile Valley, the region directly controlled by the central state administration, while outside this zone of direct political control, trade relied on local mediators – who might be under the authority of another power, or who were even completely independent. It seems quite plausible that local guides led caravans through the Bayuda. They would have known the region, its tracks, and the watering places best, making is plausible that they guided caravans with trade goods through the Bayuda. If so, no specifically royal or elite Kushite material is to be expected, except as payment these local experts received in exchange for their services. This could have been in the form of products which were consumed and not preserved in an archaeological context. It is difficult to argue in favor of a role for the Wadi Abu Dom in long distance trade in the absence of tangible evidence, but rather simply on the basis of the observation that it seems to be topographically and ecologically suitable for an easy crossing of the Bayuda. The only unmistakable evidence of communication routes in the archaeological record is for small-scale travelling. Paths bypassing changes of the wadi’s course or leading into the hinterland document the picture of a vivid communication network of the local people and their pastoralist segment of the economy (cf. chapter 8.1.2). Herding areas for goats up to 2 km from the banks of the wadi are common today; this could resemble the situation in the past.210 Paths lead even further away from the wadi banks, and these may be connected with the idea of the differentiation of land use as ‘land for living’ and ‘land for travelling’.211 Therefore, the banks of the Wadi Abu Dom as well as its hinterland had importance for travelling. 208 They are only datable by the C14 method, which was financially not affordable for any investigation broad enough to provide statistically relevant data. 209 For traditional African trade networks – as many other ancient trade systems – an organization highly dependent on the political power is still debated. These ideas are in the tradition of Karl Polanyi’s ‘nonmarket trade’ or ‘administered trade’ concepts postulated for pre-modern societies (cf. for example Feinman & Garraty 2010: 174). The participation of non-government based participants within these networks – especially ancient trans-Saharan trade – can be stated at least for the Roman period (Law 1967: 192–193). A major role of pastoralists as travel and communication experts is also postulated for more recent, but still pre-modern trade networks in the Western Sahara (McDougall 1983: 270–271). 210 Lohwasser 2011: 63–64. 211 Lohwasser 2010: 38–44.

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Despite the different mobility patterns documented in the archaeological record and indicated by analogies to comparable desert areas, it must be emphasized that no traces of the Kushite ‘King’s Road’ were found in the Wadi Abu Dom. If there was some kind of single, definable ‘road’ associated with the coronation and burial journeys of the Kushite king, it presumably bypassed the Wadi Abu Dom for whatever reason, despite its suitability in topographic terms.

8.3 The Spread of Christianity within the Wadi Abu Dom The role of Medieval Christianity in the rural and remote areas along the banks of the Wadi Abu Dom presents another major problem for writing its settlement history. The main sources for the presence of the ‘Box Grave Period’ in the wadi are Christian cemeteries (cf. chapter 6.4.3), round hut settlements with significant finds (cf. chapter 6.3.3) corresponding to the Medieval material culture of the Nile Valley, rock art with Christian motifs (cf. chapter 6.5), and, of course, the large Christian complex of Ghazali with its monastery, settlement, and cemeteries.212 These archaeological features document a diversely differentiated presence of Christianity in different parts of the wadi. The main Medieval complex of the lower Wadi Abu Dom is the church and monastery of Ghazali. Most other Christian sites in the wider vicinity, such as the rock art stations 40 and 42 (cf. chapter 6.5), the significant density of Medieval rock inscriptions, and several box grave cemeteries around the site, are obviously more or less direct dependencies of the monastery and the adjacent settlement which must have been a major center of Christian life in the western part of the lower wadi. East of the zone influenced directly by the monastic site, the presence of Christian Medieval material declines rapidly in the archaeological record. Some box grave cemeteries are located around the oasis of El-Rum in the eastern part of the lower wadi, many of them directly connected to the monumental constructions of Umm Ruweim, Umm Khafour, and Quweib. During our first test soundings within these monumental constructions we found no evidence that they were still in use after the Post-Meroitic period (cf. chapter 6.3.4.1). Moreover, it seems that the box graves directly adjacent to the buildings were constructed of stone slabs from the debris of their ruined walls. Most probably, the topographical distribution of the cemeteries does not relate to historic clusters of Christian activity in the western lower Wadi Abu Dom, but may rather be attributable to the easy accessibility of suitable building material. In the middle Wadi Abu Dom, the main archaeological sources for Christian activities are the box grave cemeteries which are usually connected with pre-existing tumulus cemeteries (cf. chapter 6.4.3). There are very few ‘Box Grave Period’rock art sites (cf. chapter 6.5), indicating that this area was at that time only (or at least predominantly) used by non-sedentary people with a mobile lifestyle. They left few traces in the archaeological record, aside from graves. The situation in the upper Wadi Abu Dom is quite different. Here, several settlement structures, some of them with unmistakable long-term character, can be attributed to the ‘Box Grave Period’; in fact, they are often directly associated with a specific box grave cemetery belonging exclusively to that settlement. This documents a significant ‘Box Grave Period’ presence in the area, based in part at least on a sedentary lifestyle. Aside from these settlement 212 Cf. Ciesielska et al. and Stark & Ciesielska in this volume.

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and cemetery features, almost no other traces of Christian life occur here. Very few rock art stations show Christian motifs – Christian inscriptions, whether in Old Nubian, Coptic, or Greek, are completely absent. This differs considerably from other remote and rural areas like the 4th Cataract (where short Christian rock inscriptions or monograms are abundant)213 and even more remote areas of the Western Desert.214 Another striking fact is the complete absence of any churches in the whole Wadi Abu Dom, with the exception of the monastery of Ghazali. Even small, simple brick-built central churches – which are quite numerous in the archaeological record, for example, in the 4th Cataract region,215 and a common motif in rock art there216 – are totally absent in the wadi, both in the archaeological record and the rock art corpus. And clearly identifiable liturgical vessels are missing from the corpus of Medieval ceramics documented so far from the middle as well as the lower Wadi Abu Dom.217 These facts render the question of the definite ‘Christian’ character of much of the ‘Box Grave Period’ presence in the middle, but especially the upper wadi problematic. There is also no clear evidence in support of the idea that Christian services were held on the open terrain (‘field churches’) – notwithstanding the absence of liturgical ceramics and larger amounts of Christian motifs in the rock art corpus (mentioned above). Furthermore, such ‘field churches’ are in general quite uncommon in the context of Nubian Christianity and, to the best of our knowledge, not mentioned in any religious text.218 Another notable feature of Christian traditions in the Wadi Abu Dom is the fact that not all Christian burials were made in box graves. The excavation of cemetery 5364 in the middle Wadi Abu Dom near Bir Merwa, dating in part to the ‘Terrace Tumuli’ and in part to the ‘Box Grave Period’, revealed that tumulus graves were used in the wadi alongside box graves until at least the 9th c. AD.219 This also indicates that pre-Christian traditions endured in the middle and upper wadi for quite a long time into the ‘Box Grave Period’. In sum, it remains unclear whether all evidence for the ‘Box Grave Period’ in remote areas of the wadi can be labelled ‘Christian’ in the narrow, religious-liturgical sense of the word. The role of the monastery and settlement of Ghazali within the local Christian community is also still problematic; the fact that many of its tomb stones were inscribed in Coptic (and not in Old Nubian),220 together with the significant decline of Christian presence even within the oases of the lower Wadi Abu Dom outside the direct zone of influence of the monastery, might indicate that the center of Ghazali was merely an outpost of Nile Valley (or even Egyptianized) Christianity and not integrated into the local Christian community to any great extent.221

213 214 215 216 217 218

Tsakos 2007. Arkell 1951. Näser et al. 2007. Kleinitz 2007: 224, Fig. 6. The authors are indebted to Jana Helmbold-Doyé for this comment. The authors thank Wlodzimierz Godlewski for his comments on this topic; but cf. Lohwasser et al. 2015: 115 for a discussion of the extent to which the liturgical situation of the Nile Valley might be paralleled in remote desert areas like the upper Wadi Abu Dom. 219 Cf. Eger & Kołosowska in this volume. 220 Obłuski & Ochała 2016: 70. 221 Obłuski & Ochała 2016: 70.

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8.4 The Wadi Abu Dom and the Central Bayuda as a Cultural Complex The internal and external chronology of the different historical cultural elements in the Wadi Abu Dom remains – down to the present – not completely clear. Especially the relationship of Late Meroitic, Post-Meroitic, and Medieval presence in the remote areas of the wadi to their counterparts closer to the Nile poses many questions. The observation that especially the Napatan and Meroitic periods seem underrepresented in the Wadi Abu Dom (compared to archaeological features usually associated with the late Kerma and the Post-Meroitic period) needs an explanation. To what extent did the Nile Valley cultures of the different eras – especially during periods when segments of the Middle Nile Valley were politically organized as states – control the remote desert regions of the Bayuda, and how strong was the dependency of the desert on the Nile Valley both culturally and economically? At the very beginning of the project, the question arose why a number of archaeological features, especially graves, comparable to late Kerma and Post-Meroitic traits, are present in the wadi, while only very few traces of Napatan and Meroitic origin – when at least the lower WadiAbu Dom formed a part of the direct hinterland of the metropolis region of Napata – could be detected in the material record. The idea soon occurred to us that some of the archaeological features customarily dated to the Post-Meroitic period could in fact represent a rural variant of the Meroitic culture.222 Test excavations in 2015 at the cemetery 5500223 supported this assumption to a certain extent. The substructure of two of the tumulus graves revealed elements known from Late Meroitic burial traditions. Archaeological investigations within the nearby ruin of El-Tuweina uncovered some strong indications that this elite settlement structure, too, dates back to a period contemporaneous with the Late Meroitic age, strengthening the evidence for the presence of this cultural episode in the area between the middle and the upper wadi. And there are also some indications that the ‘Ridge Tumuli Period’ in the remote desert areas of the Bayuda – in a manner analogous to the situation in the 4th Cataract region224 – provides much more evidence for cultural continuity from the (late) Kerma culture down into Napatan times, than in the centers of these cultures. This indicates that in the Wadi Abu Dom a local and rural variant of this cultural complex, rather than of the ‘high culture’ of the Nile Valley, was present in this period. Even though it became clearer after further investigation that local variants of the Meroitic as well as the Napatan culture are present, it is a fact that royal or other high cultural features – (rock) inscriptions in Egyptian or Meroitic and Meroitic kaoline pottery as well as other finer wares, for example – are absent (cf. chapter 8.2). The idea that there was a ‘King’s Road’ through the Bayuda along the Wadi Abu Dom is no longer tenable. The general question about the extent of central authority which the Napatan and Meroitic states established and exercised over the remote areas of the Bayuda remains. When comparing the structure and distribution of archaeological sites in the WadiAbu Dom with other peripheral areas of Nubia, there are some indications suggestive of direct political-administrative control. Nevertheless, not only have ‘high cultural’ aspects of a hypothetical presence of the royal court not been found in the Wadi Abu Dom, but other elements which could be interpreted as 222 Lohwasser 2011: 67. 223 Cf. Eger & Kołosowska in this volume. 224 Budka 2005: 76.

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evidence for political control and/or cultural domination of the Meroitic state as documented for areas outside the Nile Valley in other parts of the Sudan are missing, too. One major archaeological site category completely absent in the Wadi Abu Dom is any clearly identifiable military installation. In other remote parts of Nubia, on the fringes of control by the Nile-Valley-based central states, military fortifications are a primary element. The fortress of Gala Abu Ahmed in the Wadi Howar was used as an outpost of the Napatan kingdom,225 and it is highly likely that the fortresses of Kuweibi in the Wadi Qaab226 and Fura in the Bayuda227 south of the Wadi Abu Dom, which are usually dated to the Meroitic period, fulfilled a similar function. Within the Wadi Abu Dom, however, similar military installations are not found at all. Sometimes the monumental buildings of Umm Ruweim and Quweib have been misunderstood as fortresses, but in fact they lack any clearly identifiable elements characteristic of fortifications such as bastions. Moreover their location in valleys overlooked and dominated by nearby hills is most unsuitable for a militarily fortified installation,228 making it very unlikely that these buildings were constructed as part of a militarily supported establishment of control over the desert areas by Nile-based centralized political entities. Other military installations, even small-scaled observation stations, are missing in and around the wadi. A military aspect of hypothetical political control of the Napatan and Meroitic state over the Wadi Abu Dom region can be excluded. Another category of archaeological evidence lacking entirely in the Wadi Abu Dom and its vicinity are hafirs. Despite the fact that the wadi (especially in its upper part) would be quite suitable for these water harvesting installations from a topographical point of view, neither at the pediments of the Jebels Sultaniya and Musran, nor at the ridges near Bir Merwa – where water harvesting installations are in use today – were any traces found. The debate about the role of hafirs, especially in the Butana region, as an element of centralized political power continues,229 but hafirs are especially widespread in areas such as the Butana, where direct political control of the Meroitic state stretched far from the Nile into the hinterland. And it is evident that the construction of hafirs required a concerted deployment of manpower, which can be organized more easily in centralized political structures. The absence of hafirs in the Wadi Abu Dom may not necessarily indicate the absence of Meroitic administration, but it remains true that one of the most typical archaeological features of other hinterland regions directly controlled by the Meroitic state – such as the Butana – is not documented. Apart from the presence or absence of specific installations which are usually interpreted in connection with a state’s control over hinterland areas, there is also the problem of how clearly datable Meroitic structures within the Wadi Abu Dom conform to or diverge from general patterns observable in the Nile Valley. The structures in question are some late Meroitic tumuli on the one hand and, on the other, the building of El-Tuweina. Although the function of the latter is still not completely clarified, it is for several reasons rather obvious that the building had features indicative of an elite status of the inhabitants (‘elite’ in this context must be understood in relation to other desert inhabitants and their economic resources). If the Meroitic state had exercised direct 225 226 227 228 229

Jesse 2013: 344. Hinkel 1979: 125. Crawford 1953. Cf. Eigner in this volume. Edwards 1996: 23–26; Scheibner 2014; Karberg 2014: 217–219; Weschenfelder 2014.

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political-administrative control of the Wadi Abu Dom region, El-Tuweina should have been subject to that control in some way. Archaeological investigations of the ruin revealed some ceramics with decoration analogous to Meroitic designs and a few faience objects, but they could very well have been imported from the Nile Valley. Significantly, no traces of Meroitic religious installations nor any kind of written material was found. Both could be expected at the seat of a representative of the central state, as, for example, at the outpost fortress of Gala Abu Ahmed.230 The general layout of the structures differs significantly from other elite settlements of the Meroitic period, even from those that are not situated in the Nile Valley but in the hinterland.231 Nor does the masonry technique resemble that employed in Meroitic elite architecture; rather, it seems indicative of a local building tradition. The technique employed to carve the blocks may have been determined by the character of the harder to cut locally available gneiss, unlike the sandstone of the Butana and most parts of the Nile Valley. Brick-built features employ sun-dried mud brick exclusively; burnt bricks are completely absent at El-Tuweina. Although El-Tuweina has only been partially excavated, all features of the building so far known indicate that it was neither a palace for a hypothetical Meroitic governor of the region nor a military outpost, but the habitation site of a local elite with its own traditions, even if the Meroitic culture was known to the inhabitants and considered as some kind of cultural hallmark, while imported goods from the Meroitic Nile Valley were obviously esteemed for their prestige value. The function and role of the large buildings of the lower Wadi Abu Dom in the context of local political and cultural structures remain unclear. Clearly datable material recorded so far from the ruin of Umm Ruweim suggests a Post-Meroitic rather than a Meroitic origin of the building, but invasive archaeological investigations undertaken there until now have only amounted to very small-scale architectural soundings, insufficient to establish the internal chronology of the buildings and to determine whether earlier building phases exist. The function of the buildings will also remain unclear until full-scale archaeological excavations will be undertaken. The excavation of Post-Meroitic graves in the Wadi Abu Dom was comparatively small in scale, intended only to clarify specific questions arising from the survey; future research will be necessary to determine the degree of the integration of the rich ‘Terrace Tumuli Period’ documented in the Wadi Abu Dom into the mainly Nile Valley based, Post-Meroitic culture. During the ‘Box Grave Period’, the Christian presence differs significantly from that in the Nile Valley (cf. chapter 8.3). Outside the zone directly under the influence of Ghazali – an outpost of Egyptianized Christianity and not a center of the local community – the Christian presence within the Wadi Abu Dom hints at an illiterate population, as during the earlier (Meroitic) period. The absence of churches and of any other traces of Christian liturgical practices was noted above. This may well be significant not only for the religious culture, but also for the general extent of control of the Medieval state of Makuria over the desert region. The precise role of the clergy within the Makurian administration is still debated, but a strong connection between the political-administrative and the religious elite is evident. The absence of classical Christian liturgical features in the desert might be an indication that these regions were not fully and homogeneously integrated into the Makurian state – and not just from a 230 Jesse 2013, 338–340; Zumkley 2011. 231 For example in the elite quarter of Naga: Hintze, 1959: 186.

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clerical but also from a political perspective. But, as in the earlier periods, an archaeological surface survey can only be the beginning of research into these questions. The role of the lower Wadi Abu Dom in particular as a contact zone between the inhabitants of the Nile Valley per se and the desert dwellers must be the subject of future research, along with further investigation of the amount and extent of the impact of Ghazali on local Christianity. Two approaches are possible to investigate the ties between the remote regions of the Wadi Abu Dom and the Nile Valley with their differing cultural, economic, and political conditions. The classic center-periphery model, a ‘quantitative approach’, assumes a gradual decline in the density and complexity of traces for human activity on the fringes of densely populated cultural and political centers. A ‘qualitative approach’, by contrast, suggests that the conditions of life in the desert (e.g., in the Wadi Abu Dom) resulted in the creation of specific cultural, economic, and political/administrative responses of their own, which co-existed with densely populated centralized cultures (e.g., in the Nile Valley). WhenlookingatthearchaeologicaldatarecordcompiledduringtheWadiAbuDomItinerary survey and the patterns of its spatial distribution, the qualitative approach, understanding the Wadi Abu Dom region as a zone influenced by, but not completely dependent on the Nile Valley states and their cultures, provides a better picture of the currently available data than the ‘center-periphery model’ of interdependency.

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Hoskins, G. A. 1835 Travels in Ethiopia. Above the Second Cataract of the Nile. London. Jesse, F. 2013 Far from the Nile – The Gala Abu Ahmed Fortress in the Lower Wadi Howar (Northern Sudan). In: Jesse, F. & Vogel, C. (eds.), The Power of Walls. Fortifications in Ancient Northeastern Africa. Proceedings of the International Workshop held at the University of Cologne 4th–7th August 2011. Colloquium Africanum 5. Köln, 321–352. Jesse, F., Fiedler, M. & Gabriel, B. 2013 A Land of Thousand Tumuli – An Archaeological Survey in the Region of El Gol, South of the 5th Nile Cataract, North Sudan. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 24, 59–73. Jomard, E. F. 1817 Description de l’Égypte: ou recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l’expédition de l’armée française, publié par les ordres de Sa Majesté l’Empereur Napoléon le Grand (Vol. 4,2,2: Planches 2): Etat moderne. Paris. Karberg, T. 2009 Die Felskunst um unteren Wadi Abu Dom. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 20, 131–140. 2014 Rinder in Musawwarat es Sufra. In: Lohwasser, A. & Wolf, P. (eds.), Ein Forscherleben zwischen den Welten. Zum 80. Geburtstag von Steffen Wenig. MittSAG Sonderheft. Berlin, 215–220. 2017 Steinplätze in der Bayuda. Neue chronologische Interpretationen eines archäologischen Phänomens. In: Karberg, T. & Eger, J. (ed.), Wanderer in der Wüste. Zum 80. Geburtstag von Baldur Gabriel. Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG Sonderheft, 9–14. Kendall, T. 1999 The Origin of the Napatan State: El-Kurru and the Evidence for the Royal Ancestors. In: Wenig, S. (ed.), Studien zum antiken Sudan. Akten der 7. Internationalen Tagung für meroitistische Forschungen vom 14. bis 19. September 1992 in Gosen/bei Berlin. Meroitica 15. Wiesbaden, 3–117. Kleinitz, C. 2007a Rock Art Landscapes of the Fourth Nile Cataract: Characterisations and First Comparisons. In: Näser, C. & Lange, M. (eds.), Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Berlin,August 4th – 6th, 2005. Meroitica 23. Wiesbaden, 213–234. 2007b Magisch-religiöse Zeichen der meroitischen und postmeroitischen Epochen in Nubien. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 18, 99–113. in prep. Graffiti from the Royal Pyramids at Meroe. In: Döhl, R. (ed.), Signs of Place: A Visual Interpretation of Landscape.

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Kormysheva, E. 1994 Das Inthronisationsritual des Königs von Meroe. In: Gundlach, R. & Rochholz, M. (eds.), Ägyptische Tempel – Struktur, Funktion und Programm (Akten der Ägyptologischen Tempeltagungen in Gosen 1990 und in Mainz 1992). Hildesheimer Ägyptologische Beiträge 27. Hildesheim, 187–209. Kröpelin, S. & Kuper, R. 2007 Holozäner Klimawandel und Besiedelungsgeschichte der östlichen Sahara. In: Geographische Rundschau 59.4, 22–29. Krump, T. 1710 Hoher und Fruchtbarer Palm-Baum deß Heiligen Evangelij, Das ist: Tieff-eingepflantzter Glaubens-Lehr, In das Hertz deß Hohen Abyssiner Monarchen, erwisen. Augsburg. Law, R. C. C. 1967 The Garamantes and Trans-Saharan Enterprise in Classical Times. In: The Journal of African History 8.2, 181–200. LD Lepsius, C. R., Denkmaeler ausAegypten undAethiopien, 12 Bände und Ergänzungsband. Berlin (1849–1859). LDT Lepsius, C. R., Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien, Text (Hrsg. E. Naville), 5 Bände. Leipzig (1897–1913). Leclant, J. & Huard, P. 1980 La culture des chasseurs du Nil et du Sahara. Mémoires du Centre de Recherches anthropologiques, préhistoriques et ethnographiques 29. Alger. Lenoble, P. 2004 Un habitat sahélien préchrétien: le Hosh el-Kafir à el-Hobage (Soudan central), A.M.S Ne36-O/7-O-6. In: Cahiers de recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et Égyptologie de Lille 24, 115–141. Lepsius, C. R., 1852 Briefe aus Aegypten, Aethiopien und der Halbinsel des Sinai: geschrieben in den Jahren 1842– 1845 während der auf Befehl Sr. Maj. des Königs Friedrich Wilhelm IV von Preußen ausgeführten wissenschaftlichen Expedition. Berlin. Liverani, M. 2000 The Garamantes: A Fresh Approach. In: Libyan Studies 31, 17–28.

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Lohwasser, A. 2009 Ein archäologischer Survey an der Mündung des Wadi Abu Dom, Bayuda. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 20, 101–115. 2010 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.). Kampagne 2010. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 21, 37–50. 2011 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.). Kampagne 2011. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 59–68. 2012 Aspekte der napatanischen Gesellschaft. Archäologisches Inventar und funeräre Praxis im Friedhof von Sanam – Perspektiven einer kulturhistorischen Interpretation. Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 1. Vienna. 2017 Bayuda-Durchquerung – einst und jetzt. Mit Baldur Gabriel auf den Spuren von Fürst Hermann von Pückler-Muskau. In: Karberg, T. & Eger, J. (ed.), Wanderer in der Wüste. Zum 80. Geburtstag von Baldur Gabriel. Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG Sonderheft, 43–48. Lohwasser, A. & Karberg, T. 2013 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.). Kampagne 2013. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 24, 39–50. 2014 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.). Kampagne 2014. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 177–188. Lohwasser, A., Eger, J. & Karberg, T. 2015 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.). Kampagne 2015. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 26, 109–122. 2016 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) Kampagne 2016. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 27, 71–85. Macklin, M. & Woodward, J. 1998 Alluvial Architecture and Luminescence Dating of Holocene Palaeochannels in the Northern Dongola Reach of the Nile. In: Sudan & Nubia 2, 21–25. Mallinson, M. 2004 The SARS Survey from Omdurman to Gabolab 1997. In: Kendall, T. (ed.), Nubian Studies. Proceedings of the Ninth Conference of the International Society of Nubian Studies August 21–26, 1998. Boston, MA., 349–363. McDougall, A. 1983 The Sahara Reconsidered: Pastoralism, Politics and Salt from the Ninth through the Twelfth Centuries. In: African Economic History 12. Business Empires in Equatorial Africa, 263–286. Morrow, M. & Morrow, M. 2002 Desert Rats: Rock Art Topographical Survey in Egypt‘s Eastern Desert. Site Catalogue. London. Müller, J. W. von 1852 Fliegende Blätter aus meinem Tagebuch, geführt auf einer Reise in das Innere von Afrika in den Jahren 1847, 1848 und 1849. Stuttgart.

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Näser, C., Billig, D. & Lange, M. 2007 The Church US022. A at the Fourth Nile Cataract. In: Näser, C. & Lange, M. (eds.), Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Berlin, August 4th – 6th, 2005. Meroitica 23. Wiesbaden, 134–142. Negro, G., Castiglioni, A. & Castiglioni, A. 2006 An Archaeological Exploration of the Bayuda Desert. In: Caneva, I. & Roccati, A. (eds.), Acta Nubica. Proceedings of the Xth International Conference of Nubian Studies, Rome 9–14 September 2002. Rom, 411–417. Obłuski, A. 2014 Ghazali Site Presentation Project 2012–2014. Preliminary Results. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 197–204. Obłuski, A. & Ochała, G. 2016 La redécouverte d’un monastère nubien: premiers résultats des fouilles polonaises à Ghazali, Ouadi Abu Dom. In: Boud’hors, A. & Louis, C. (eds.), Études coptes XIV, Seizième journée d’études (Genève, 19-21 juin 2013). Cahiers de la bibliothèque copte 21. Paris, 63–79. Pachur, H.-J. & Hoelzmann, P. 2000 Late Quaternary Palaeoecology and Palaeoclimates of the Eastern Sahara. In: Journal of African Earth Sciences 30.4, 929–939. Paner, H. & Pudło, A. 2010 The Bayuda Project. The First Season – 2009. In: Paner, H., Jakobielski, S. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Fourth Cataract Archaeological Salvage Project 1996–2009, Gdańsk, 2–4 July, 2009. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7. Gdańsk, 117–129. Pflaumbaum, H. 1987 Waditerrassen- und Fußflächengenese in der Bayuda-Wüste (Republik Sudan). Ein Beitrag zur ‚Morphogenetischen Sequenz‘ eines randtropisch-ariden Raumes. Hamburg. Poncet, C.-J. 1709 A Voyage to Ethiopia in the Years 1698, 1699, and 1700. Describing Particularly that Famous Empire; as Also the Kingdoms of Dongola, Sennar, Part of Egypt, &c. With the Natural History of Those Parts. London. Prinz, T., Walter, S., Wieghardt, A., Karberg, T. & Schreiber, T. 2014 GeoArchaeology Web 2.0: Geospatial Information Services Facilitate New Concepts of WebBased Data Visualisation Strategies in Archaeology – Two Case Studies from Surveys in Sudan (Wadi) and Turkey (Doliche). In: Archaeological Discovery 2, 91–106. http://www.scirp.org/ journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=50492 (accessed 2017-09-12).

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Pückler-Muskau, H. Fürst von 1985 Aus Mehmed Alis Reich. Ägypten und der Sudan um 1840 (Nachdruck). München. Rohrbach, A. 2012 Prototypische Entwicklung zur Vergabe eindeutiger IDs unter Nutzung von ArcPad am Beispiel archäologischer Felddatenerfassung im WADI-Projekt im Sudan. Institute of Geoinformatics. B.Sc.-Thesis, University of Münster, Institute of Geoinformatics. Rose, P. 1996 Qasr Ibrim. The Hinterland Survey. Egypt Exploration Society, Excavation Memoir 62. London. Rosenberger, M. 2011 Konzeption und prototypische Umsetzung eines Graphical User Interface (GUI) für die GISkonforme Felddatenerfassung historischgeographischer Raumdaten mittels ArcPad im Sudan. Institute of Geoinformatics, Münster University. Münster. Diploma-Thesis, University of Münster, Institute of Geoinformatics. Rüppell, E. 1829 Reisen in Nubien, Kordofan und dem peträischen Arabien: vorzüglich in geographisch-statistischer Hinsicht. Frankfurt a.M. Russegger, J. 1841–49 Reisen in Europa, Asien und Afrika: mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die naturwissenschaftlichen Verhältnisse der betreffenden Länder, unternommen in den Jahren 1835 bis 1841. Stuttgart. Saidel, B. A. 2001 Abandoned Tent Camps in Southern Jordan. In: Near Eastern Archaeology 64.3, 150–157. Scheibner, T. 2014 Entstehung, Ursprung und Nutzung – Die Hafire in Musawwarat es-Sufra und in der Keraba als Wirtschaftsbauten. In: Lohwasser, A. & Wolf, P. (eds.), Ein Forscherleben zwischen den Welten. Zum 80. Geburtstag von Steffen Wenig. MittSAG Sonderheft. Berlin, 299–322. Schinkel, H.-G. 1970 Haltung, Zucht und Pflege des Viehs bei den Nomaden Ost- und Nordostafrikas. Veröffentlichungen des Museums für Völkerkunde Leipzig 21. Berlin. Scholz, P. 2005 Merkurios aus Faras: Heiliger oder König?. In: Oriens Christianus 89, 113–147. Shahack-Gross, R., Marshall, F., Ryan, K. & Weiner, S. 2004 Reconstruction of Spatial Organization in Abandoned Maasai Settlements: Implications for Site Structure in the Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa. In: Journal of Archaeological Science 31, 1395–1411.

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Shahack-Gross, R., Marshall, F. & Weiner, S. 2003 Geo-Ethnoarchaeology of Pastoral Sites: The Identification of Livestock Enclosures in Abandoned Maasai Settlements. In: Journal of Archaeological Science 30, 439–459. Shinnie, P. L. 1991 Trade Routes of the Anicent Sudan 3,000 BC–AD 350. In: Davies, W. V. (ed.), Egypt and Africa. Nubia from Prehistory to Islam. London, 49–53. Shinnie, P. L. & Chittick, H. N. 1961 Ghazali – A Monastery in the Northern Sudan. Sudan Antiquities Service Occasional Papers 5. Khartoum. Suková, L. 2011 The Rock Art of Lower Nubia (Czechoslovak Concession). Prague. Taylor, J. B. 1856 A Journey to Central Africa; or Life and Landscapes from Egypt to the Negro Kingdoms of the White Nile. New York. Thomas, R. I. 2014 El-Eided Mohammadein (H25): A Kerma, New Kingdom and Napatan Settlement on the Alfreda Nile. In: Sudan & Nubia 18, 58–68. Tsakos, A. 2007 On the Medieval Inscriptional Material from M.D.A.S.P.. In: Näser, C. & Lange, M. (eds.), Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Berlin, August 4th – 6th, 2005. Meroitica 23. Wiesbaden, 235–246. Ullendorff, E. 1951 The Obelisk of Maṭara. In: The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1.2, 26–32. Vetter, T., Rieger, A.-K. & Möller, H. 2013 Water, Routes and Rangelands: Ancient Traffic and Grazing Infrastructure in the Eastern Marmarica (Northwestern Egypt). In: Förster, F. & Riemer, H. (eds.), Desert Road Archaeology in Ancient Egypt and Beyond. Africa Praehistorica 27. Köln, 455–484. Vincentelli, I. 2003 Trade and Caravan Routes in Meroitic Times. In: Liverani, M. (ed.), Arid Lands in Roman Times. Papers from the International Conference (Rome, July 9th – 10th 2001). Arid Zone Archaeology 4. Florence, 79–86. 2011 The Treasury and Other Buildings at Sanam, in: Rondot, V., Alpi, F. & Villeneuve, F. (eds.), La pioche et la plume. Autor du Soudan, du Liban et de la Jordani. Hommages archéologiques à Patrice Lenoble. Paris, 269–282

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Warrlich, R. 2012 Entwicklung eines prototypischenWebservices zur Visualisierung archäologischer Befunde am Beispiel des Projektes Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (Sudan). B.Sc.-Thesis, University of Münster, Institute of Geoinformatics. Welsby, D. A. 1996 The Kingdom of Kush. The Napatan and Meroitic Empires. London. 2002 The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. Pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile. London. 2003 The Kingdom of Kush: Rome’s Neighbour on the Nile. In: Liverani, M. (ed.), Arid Lands in Roman Times. Papers from the International Conference (Rome, July 9th – 10th 2001). Arid Zone Archaeology 4. Florence, 65–78. Welsby, D. A. & Thomas, R. I. 2014 The Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project in the Northern Dongola Reach – Introduction. In: Sudan & Nubia 18, 47. Weschenfelder, P. 2014 Who gets the Lion’s Share? Thoughts on Meroitic Water Management and its Role in Royal Legitimization. In: Lohwasser, A. & Wolf, P. (eds.), Ein Forscherleben zwischen den Welten. Zum 80. Geburtstag von Steffen Wenig. Der Antike Sudan, MittSAG Sonderheft. Berlin, 335–350. Wolf, P. & Nowotnick, U. 2007 The 4th Season of the SARS Anglo-German Expedition to the Fourth Nile Cataract. In: Sudan & Nubia 11, 26–33. Yon, J.-B. 2016 Organisation and Financing of Trade and Caravans in the Near East 1300–500 BC. In: MorenoGarcía, J. C. (ed.), Dynamics of Production in the Ancient Near East. Oxford, 345–355. Zumkley, K. 2011 Eine Statuette des Thot aus Gala Abu Ahmed. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 105–114.

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Puzzling Cultural Relics in the Bayuda (N-Sudan) and Adjacent Areas Baldur Gabriel

Abstract Every archaeological field survey demands a good knowledge of geomorphology and physical geography in order to understand the history and rules governing landscape development during past millennia. One has to decide whether a special situation in the field is of human or of natural origin. As far as it is of archaeological interest, one should answer the questions of “Who – When – Why and How?” During a field survey, the question “How?” will first lead to a detailed description and documentation, while the other issues can often not be solved. The question “Why?” might be easy to answer regarding obvious burial or residential constructions. However, there are many sites that escape any convincing explanation. The author presents some examples of such puzzling relics. They can be classified by external characteristics such as size and shape, or they can be differentiated by their single, local, regional or widespread occurrence. Previously puzzling features that are now largely understood are briefly mentioned. The main focus here is laid upon some frequently encountered mysteries. For example, large pit fields of differing character may have had various causes, but hundreds of small shallow scratches distributed over gentle slopes always seem to have had the same – albeit unknown – motive. Thousands of small gravel heaps spread over the plains are more clearly visible on remote sensing images than in the field. Geometrically shaped depressions, next to post-Meroitic tumuli, are merely known from the 5th Nile Cataract, while long walls and valley stone lines of unknown significance were only found at the 4th Cataract. Most interesting are small stone rings, normally occurring in confined clusters of sometimes more than a dozen. One can only speculate about their connection with mining activity. However, there are still many other kinds of unexplained cultural relics. The archaeologist should register them in lists and maps and try to find out the reason behind their existence. Keywords: Archaeological Field Survey, Bayuda, Unexplained Cultural Relics, Sliced Quartz Pebbles, Long Walls, Valley Stone Lines, Geometrically Shaped Areas, Plantations(?), Small Activity Centers, Pit Fields, Small Stone Rings

Introduction Insights into prehistoric archaeological phenomena are based on circumstantial evidence since the originators themselves can no longer be investigated. Like a detective, one needs to analyze the relics, and try to interpret them in the right way in order to reconstruct and to understand what happened, and to answer the questions of “Who – When – Why and How?” Who acted here when, why and how? Sometimes one cannot even be sure that the situation is the result of any human impact, one cannot be sure that it is man-made, and the archaeological interest seems to be doubtful. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 1:

Map of the Bayuda with the 4th and the 5th Nile Cataracts (photo Google Earth).

Therefore, it is firstly important to find out if certain situations in the field are of natural or of human origin. They must actually be conspicuous. A sudden change in color, in grain size, in surface morphology or in vegetation cover should attract one’s interest during the survey. Normally they escape the attention of an untrained eye. ‘Untrained’ means that the rules governing a changing environment, especially in a geomorphological sense, are not known or only unconsciously present, or it can mean that the survey participant is not familiar with the special desert environment since he or she has never been in a similar landscape. That means that an archaeological field survey will be more successful if you know something about the principles of physical geography – that is: of erosion, transportation, sedimentation, weathering or soil formation –, and if you have some field experience in similar environments.

Caves and Scratches There are many situations in the field where it is quite difficult to recognize and to ascertain human impact. Smaller or bigger caves, cavities, hollows, overhangs and scratches on the soil surface very often escape our attention. However, if there is no natural explanation, we are possibly confronted with activities of prospectors. They looked for mineral resources such as colors, salt, gold and other ‘treasures’ or it might be remains of primitive quarries.1 1

Gabriel 2002a; Gabriel & Lohwasser 2010: 53.

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Fig. 2:

Caves, scratches, quarries, mines (1). – Human impact on the soil surface is sometimes difficult to be seen (examples from the Wadi Abu Dom).

Fig. 3:

Caves, scratches, quarries, mines (2). – The mineral resources in demand could have been quite different: raw materials for artifacts or for jewelry, for building-stones, for mineral colors, for fertilizers, even for medicine. Sometimes people left only scratches on the surface while prospecting for any form of resource (examples from the Wadi Abu Dom).

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Cultural Relics After a former classification2 we can distinguish between positive and negative relics: Positive in the case of a concentration of additional matter at the site, negative if a removal of material from the site can be proved. Other aspects of classification can be their age, their size or their shape, but now we will discuss some examples of their single, local, regional or widespread occurrence.

Cultural Relics – Widespread Occurrence We cannot enumerate all of them. One special structure, the so-called ‘gravel beds’, which might be one of the best examples for the problem concerning the previously intended functionality of puzzling cultural relics in the Bayuda, are carefully and, in detail, investigated by Jalina Tschernig and Loai Shamsalola.3 The question will always be: “Why?” What was the purpose and reason for their existence? The answer might be easy for obvious burial or residential constructions. However, there are many sites that escape any feasible explanation. Some examples may illustrate the difficulties, though the significance of several of them has become evident already, at least partially.

Fig. 4:

2 3

‘Steinplätze’ (stone sites). – Small agglomerations of stones in a sandy matrix point to human impact. Very often they prove to be fireplaces (examples from the Wadi Abu Dom and from the 4th Nile Cataract).

Gabriel 2002c; 2003. See Tschernig & Shamsalola in this volume; cf. also Lohwasser et al. 2014: 183–185.

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‘Steinplätze’ (stone sites) (Fig. 4): Spatially restricted agglomerations of stones of different size and rock quality are hardly to be interpreted as being of natural origin. Examples are the so-called ‘Steinplätze’or stone sites (singular in German: a “Steinplatz”). They are to be found all over the whole Sahara.4 Most of them are now identified as fireplaces, but there are still a lot of questions around them which are unresolved. We suppose that only about 80 % of these structures were really fireplaces. What about the others? We can only speculate. Gravel features (Fig. 5): At the 4th Cataract and at one single locality in the Wadi Abu Dom, we found strange gravel features, grooves and small patches scraped in the soil surface that sometimes looked very complicated and sophisticated. Initially, we compared these ‘geoglyphs’ with the Peruvian Nazca Lines, but then we found out that most of these creations – not all of them, by the way! – were just children’s playgrounds.5

Fig. 5:

Gravel features. – Most of the different gravel features turned out to be the results of imaginative playgrounds for children (examples from the 4th Nile Cataract).

Stelae field (Fig. 6): A solitary site was found at the 4th Cataract far from any settlement traces: About one dozen stone blocks of a height of nearly 1 m were erected on the banks of a small wadi. Some of the stones had obviously already fallen down, though others were carefully fastened with wedges at the bottom. Single upright standing stones are not rare in the area, they are normally said to be used as so-called alamat, which are sign posts for the course of camel and donkey tracks. But a whole field of ‘stelae’ must have had another reason.

4 5

Gabriel 1977; 2002b. Gabriel et al. 2005; Gabriel & Wolf 2007; Wolf 2004: 25.

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Similar fields exist, too, in many other parts of the Sahara.6 Kronenberg discusses their meaning as boundary signs between different clans and as ancestral cult places, and Huard & Massip give a detailed list of their occurrence in the West and Central Sahara.7

Fig. 6:

Stelae. – Upright standing stones, less than 1 m high, are quite often found in the desert, mostly they are signposts for camel and donkey tracks. But a field of nearly a dozen stelae at the 4th Nile Cataract must have had another meaning.

As far as the usability and application of stone artifacts or pottery (cf. the ‘Clayton rings’)8 or the interpretation of rock art and other forms of human impact on rock surfaces is concerned, there is a wide spectrum of discussion and speculation. We will not debate this issue here in detail, but we will briefly mention three examples. Tethering stones (Fig. 7): Firstly, we will recall the controversy about the tethering stones that are widespread in the Central and West Sahara, too:9 Were they tools made and used by hunters as devices to tie up their game traps, or were they rather made and used by herders and farmers, who attached their cattle, donkeys or camels to such artifacts? The discussion is ongoing. Maybe both opinions are right; and maybe even there were more uses of such tools.10 According to field experience, even experts in prehistory can overlook those artifacts until they really had them in their hands.

6 7 8 9 10

See e.g. Engljaehringer et al. 1986; Milburn & Köbel-Wettlauffer 1973. Kronenberg 1958: 130–134; Huard & Massip 1967: 23–25. Riemer & Kuper 2000. Morel 1982. Gabriel 2012: 87.

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Fig. 7:

Tethering stones. – The grooves at both sides of heavy stones (usually more than 10 kg) were chipped for fastening a rope. However, the object at the other end of the rope is debatable – a domestic animal or a hunter’s trap or something else? (examples from the Wadi Abu Dom).

Fig. 8:

Sliced quartz pebbles. – Large collections of quartz splinters can be found at prehistoric sites. Their meaning is obscure (three examples from the 5th Nile Cataract and one sample from a site in the Wadi Abu Dom).

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Sliced quartz pebbles (Fig. 8): Already at Neolithic sites in the Tibesti Mountains, the author noticed strikingly large amounts of small quartz fragments. The ancient people must have produced thousands and sometimes millions of these small quartz splinters, and the purpose – the reason – as well as the method or technique of their production remains a mystery.11 Had they any virtual function or were they just a secondary result of another irrelevant action? Like fragments of broken window glass they glitter in the sun, and their areal distribution is a marker of the extension of former activity and cultural layers.12 Rock gongs (Fig. 9): Nearly fifty years ago, the author noticed strange grooves on rock surfaces in many areas of the Central and Eastern Sahara: Small dents – obviously man-made, though surely not for grinding – puzzled at the sites. But it was not until 2004 at the 4th Nile Cataract that Cornelia Kleinitz explained to the author the function of these traces as musical instruments.13 This is an example of know-how and field experience successfully complementing each other.

Fig. 9:

11 12 13

Rock gongs. – Small dents on the surface of large stone blocks are the effects of continuous blows in order to produce a musical sound (examples from the 4th Nile Cataract).

There are spreads of these quartz splinters for instance on top of Gebel Barkal, too. Additionally, such irregular quartz pieces are also frequently encountered in Egyptian settlement contexts (Johannes Auenmüller, personal communication). Cf. Jesse et al. 2013: 62. Kleinitz 2004.

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Plantations? (Figs. 10–11): Strange fields of circular scratches or flat hollows on gentle slopes are widespread.14 The single dents are not more than about 80 cm in width and less than 4 cm deep. They look like areas of former vineyards or other plantations, but we never found any hole for seedlings. There were just small, shallow depressions, hundreds of them, in distances of nearly 1 m from each other. The small scratches are even to be seen on a satellite image at the 5th Cataract (cf. Fig. 11), but one can hardly guess that east of them there is a second area which is not visible because of the ground’s dark patina: There must have been two generations of such fields. – We cannot be sure that they do not exist in the area of the 4th Cataract which is now inundated by the Merowe High Dam reservoir. Maybe during the survey, our eyes, mind and perception were not yet receptive to their existence and to their special appearance. Within the lower Wadi Abu Dom, one of these fields was tested with two archaeological soundings. Here, no traces of any plantation pit inside the scratches were found. At least for this specific excavated place, the idea of plantations inside the small depressions should be abandoned. But perhaps the residents cultivated shallow rooting plants like cereals and herbs?

Fig. 10: Plantations? (1). – Large fields of strange small scratches and shallow depressions on gentle slopes look like the relics of ancient plantations (examples from the Wadi Abu Dom).

14

Gabriel 2014: Figs. 15–16; Gabriel & Lohwasser 2010: Fig. 3; Jesse et al. 2013: Fig. 21.

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Fig. 11: Plantations? (2). – Although the single ‘plantation’ scratches are less than 80 cm in diameter, they are sometimes discernible on remote sensing images. After a ground check it turned out that here at the 5th Nile Cataract there must have been two different generations, for a second such field to the east of the visible one was already darkened by patina (photo Google Earth, center: 18°11’38’’N 33°53’05’’E).

Small activity centers (Fig. 12): Small activity centers, which are documented by single stone blocks laid together, are widespread and mostly located on flat wadi terraces or on the lower reaches of hills. They are neither fireplaces, nor graves or windscreens. But what are they? Maybe something like seats – chairs – or tables? Or maybe anvils? Sometimes they are accompanied by pot sherds or stone artifacts. At the 4th Nile Cataract, Pawel Wolf analyzed their immediate surroundings by carefully clearing the ground surface,15 and he found out that they were the internal (or sometimes external) fittings of huts. Maybe they were used to secure standing water reservoirs, such as large ceramic vessels.16 However, is it the general purpose? Small heaps of gravel (Fig. 13): Large areas in the Bayuda are covered by gravel heaps in different sizes and arrangements. Sometimes they can be seen better on remote sensing images than in the field.17 Though we recently saw small scale gravel harvesting by families at the 5th Nile Cataract, most of those heaps seem to be of past periods. Maybe their intentions and purposes have changed over time and according to requirements and we should expect different explanations for their existence. Sami El-Amin, archaeologist at NCAM., put forward the supposition that they are connected with gold diggers, who are still active in the area today. 15 16 17

Wolf & Nowotnick 2005; 2006. Cf. Lohwasser 2011: Fig. 10. Jesse et al. 2013: 21.

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Fig. 12: Small activity centers. – Often located on wadi terraces or gravel plains, assemblages with a few stone blocks document centers of human activity (examples from the Wadi Abu Dom).

Fig. 13: Small gravel heaps. – Especially near the 5th Nile Cataract, large areas are covered by small gravel heaps. Their function is unknown (examples from the 5th Nile Cataract). – Cf. also Fig. 15.

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Fig. 14: Pit fields. – Very wide-spread phenomena in the Bayuda and elsewhere are large pit fields, the purpose and age of which may be different (examples from the Wadi Abu Dom).

Fig. 15: Pit fields, small gravel heaps and geometrically shaped areas. – The satellite image of an area near the 5th Nile Cataract shows several Post-Meroitic tumuli with their characteristic geometrical fields (cf. arrows) and large pit fields to the right as well as large areas covered by small gravel heaps to the left (photo Google Earth, center: 19°28’41’’N 33°11’34’’E).

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Pit fields (Fig. 14): Pit fields are one of the most frequent human impacts on the landscape,18 but normally they cannot be attributed to a cultural epoch or to a special purpose. There is much speculation about their function. For example, they could have been the source of gravel and soil for building tumuli, the source of clay for pottery and mud bricks or the source of mineral fertilizers, or they could represent the results of gold mining. In the vicinity of settlements, they might have been used as rubbish dumps or storage pits19 or even sometimes as cave dwellings. Near Dakhla in the Western Desert of Egypt, we saw large pit field areas,20 where already Palaeolithic people obviously hunted for special lumps of quartzite as raw material for their artifacts, which lay on the surrounding surface, too. We tried to record a part of those fields (Tab. 1) with the main question – as in all such cases – about why the people began to dig a new pit although the mineral resources were available in the whole subsoil stratum.

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Tab. 1: Shape and size of pits in a Palaeolithic pit field near Dakhla (Western Desert, Egypt: 25°35’25’’N 29°17’20’’E).

Small stone rings (Fig. 16): Most conspicuous are small stone rings. They are only about 1–2 m in diameter and, therefore, do not qualify as being the basements of round huts, especially when they are found in dense clusters of sometimes dozens of stone rings. They are mostly present in hilly landscapes and quite often near pit fields or graveyards (Tab. 2). We can only speculate about their connection with any mining activity, though at the 5th Cataract we found a similar situation which turned out to be a huge Neolithic cemetery. It was surrounded by about half a meter thick layer of cultural relics including pot sherds, bones and mollusk shells as well as stone artifacts with many thousands of glittering sliced quartz pebbles.21 18 19 20 21

Gabriel & Karberg 2011: 94; Gabriel & Lohwasser 2010: 52–54. Cf. Wolf & Nowotnick 2006: 28. Cf. Gabriel 2002c: Fig. 2; 2003: Fig. 2. Jesse et al. 2013.

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Fig. 16: Small stone rings. – Stone rings of less than 2 m in diameter cannot be the basements of round huts, so, however, they might have had various functions. Single ones, for instance, with a now decayed leather interfacing, might have served as drinking troughs for animals (examples from the 4th Nile Cataract; photos Google Earth, centers: 20°09’13’’N 34°06’40’’E; 18°15’12’’N 33°52’02’’E; 18°15’22’’N 33°52’07’’E).

Tab. 2: Clusters of small stone rings in the Bayuda.

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Fig. 17: Long walls. – Long walls (or ramparts) are to be found in many parts of North African arid areas. Whether they really were means for animal hunting is not clear (examples from the 4th Nile Cataract).

Cultural Relics – Regional Occurrence Some of the relics have only a limited regional spread, like the following three examples. They could, however, not be registered in the area of the Wadi Abu Dom until now, though one category of them, namely long walls, is well known from many other areas of the North African and Near Eastern arid zone. Long walls (Fig. 17): There is an intensive discussion about the importance of long dry stone walls for game hunting.22 Usually they are not walls with vertical masonry, but they rather look like ramparts. Sometimes they are less than 100 m long, without being connected to any complex of buildings or to other archaeological features. Sometimes, however, they can run over the landscape for several kilometers. We found them repeatedly at the 4th Cataract, but until now we have seen them rather seldom in the interior of the Bayuda. Within the Wadi Abu Dom, only very short versions of these walls were documented in most cases, and it is quite likely that their function differs from the ones described above. The only example from the Wadi Abu Dom which is comparable is situated at 18°02’38’’N 32°43’42’’E in the southern hinterland of the upper Wadi Abu Dom. Here, a 60 m long linear stone setting seems to be used as a kind of demarcation, but without any real fencing aspect. 22

Cf. Milburn 2006: 317–319; Riemer 2004; Wolf & Gabriel 2008; Wolf & Nowotnick 2006: 29.

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There is also one site in the southern Bayuda that might be comparable to such ‘long walls’:23 In a hilly district, an irregular oval area is surrounded by a long series of small cairns, each ca. 2 m distant from the other. The whole area has dimensions of about 290 m in N-S direction and 430 m in E-W. Its center is situated at ca. 17°11’51’’N 32°03’22’’E. Though this is virtually no ‘wall’, we find a similar structure at Gebel al-Ain close to the Wadi Melik in the Western Desert of Sudan.24 A 300 m ‘long wall’ exists between 16°32’37’’N 29°14’58.5’’E and 16°32’39.5’’N 29°15’08’’E partly as a rampart and partly as a series of small cairns. It seems as if the small cairns were first erected to mark the course of the wall while the later completion by filling in the gaps failed. Valley stone lines (Fig. 18): Only at the 4th Cataract ‘valley stone lines’ were found. They divide a valley into single segments of different size.25 But what do they mean? Did these segments fence off different grazing areas for animals? Were they used for cultivation and gardening or as animal corrals during the night? The stone lines are mostly very low, sometimes single stones of different size are laid one after the other. The lines could be easily stepped over by animals, so we may presume that they were reinforced by fences of thorny brushes and branches. At least they were not water dams. Very often they show special gaps for preexisting camel and donkey tracks. Geometrically shaped areas (Fig. 19): At the 5th Nile Cataract we found many large surface areas of geometric design, usually more than 50 m long triangles or trapezes. They always point to a post-Meroitic tumulus with their long tips.26 In the field, they proved to be shallow and up to 30 cm deep depressions from which the people obviously obtained the material for building the tumuli. But why such a restriction? Why did they not take the gravel from all around the burial site and from the immediate vicinity? The geometric plains must have had a higher significance, presumably a religious function for funeral ceremonies. But a lot of other open questions remain regarding these concomitant phenomena of ancient tombs.

Who – When – Why – How? Let us return to the initial questions of “Who – When – Why and How?” As for “Who?”, not the individual person is the answer to the question, but their cultural affiliation: What kind of people were they? Were they farmers, hunters, herders, traders, warriors, perhaps slaves? Was a single person the originator, or was the whole community or society engaged? Maybe only parts of them, for example women or children, like the initiators of the gravel features? Why did the people invest their time and energy? Were there external pressures and requirements such as threats by human or natural enemies? Did they have to protect themselves from the rigors of the weather, like wind, rain, cold or insolation? Or had they internal

23 24 25 26

A similar structure is found near Gebel Nagashush (Tim Karberg, personal communication). Eger 2013: 165. Wolf & Gabriel 2008. Gabriel 2014; Jesse et al. 2013.

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Fig. 18: Valley stone lines. – The purpose of stone lines which traverse many small wadis at the 4th Nile Cataract is unknown.

Fig. 19: Geometrically shaped areas. – Post-Meroitic tumuli are accompanied by puzzling triangles or trapezes, sometimes up to 70 m long, hitherto found only at the 5th Nile Cataract (examples from the 5th Nile Cataract; photo Google Earth, center 18°06’32’’N 33°55’34’’E) – Cf. also Fig. 15.

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obligations like religious and esoteric constraints? Were they rather healthy and rich with a lot of time and leisure? Or did they suffer from famine and disease and had to struggle for life? The question of “When?” will not be discussed here. There are only rarely obvious hints to the dating of the relics, be it an evident correlation to other datable finds or to stratigraphic facts. The question of “How?” is the task of the archaeologist in the field: He or she has to analyze, to describe and to document the respective situation. On the spot one should try to find out the sources and the whereabouts of any moved material. Perhaps it is possible to estimate the input of manpower and time.

Final Remarks It is not sure and not taken for granted that all those strange relics that look identical in the field have always had the same purpose. Different daily life requirements of former generations might have led to results that look the same today. To understand the intended function of those relics, one should focus on their examination in the field like a crime scene specialist and collect all observations and physical evidence from different regions and environments, and then register them in lists and maps, comparing them by modern computer programs. Perhaps one day – like a successful detective – we are able to shed light on the circumstances and the background of those puzzling cultural relics. Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Gwyneth Edwards (Cardiff/Wales) for scrutiny and correction of the English text version.

Bibliography Eger, J. 2013 Spuren im Sand. Ein antikes Wegesystem im Sudan, rekonstruiert anhand von Fernerkundungsdaten. Unpublished M.A.-Thesis. Freie Universität Berlin (Ägyptologisches Seminar). Engljaehringer, G., Kraml, R. & Milburn, M. 1986 Gedanken über einige Steinmonumente der Sahara. In: Antiquités africaines 22, 11–28. Gabriel, B. 1977 Zum ökologischen Wandel im Neolithikum der östlichen Zentralsahara. Berliner Geographische Abhandlungen 27. Berlin. 2002a Antiker Abbau mineralischer Rohstoffe im Raume Musawwarat es Sufra (Butana, N-Sudan). In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 13, 36–45. 2002b Neolithic Camp Sites in the Sahara. Anticipation of Future Research. In: Jennerstraße 8 (ed.), Tides of the Desert - Gezeiten der Wüste, Beiträge zuArchäologie und UmweltgeschichteAfrikas zu Ehren von Rudolph Kuper. Africa Praehistorica 14. Köln, 51–66.

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2002c Spuren im Sand und Gestein. Kulturhistorische Landschaftselemente der Sahara. In: MeierHilbert, G. & Schnurer, J. (eds.), Friedrich Konrad Hornemann in Siwa – 200 Jahre Afrikaforschung, Hildesheimer Universitätsschriften 11, 132–145. 2003 Cultural Relics as Saharan Landscape Elements. In: Krzyzaniak, L., Kroeper, K. & Kobusiewicz, K. (eds.), Cultural Markers in the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa and Recent Research, Studies in African Archaeology 8, Poznan, 21–34. 2012 Tethering Stones and Stone Sites (Steinplätze) at the Fourth Nile Cataract. In: Wotzka, H.-P. (ed.), Proceedings of the Third International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract, Cologne 2006. Africa Praehistorica 22. Köln, 83–90. 2014 Kulturhistorische Landschaftselemente am 5. Nilkatarakt/Nordsudan nach Google-Earth-Bildanalysen mit Anmerkungen nach Groundcheck (GC). In: Lohwasser, A. (ed.), Ein Forscherleben zwischen den Welten – Zum 80. Geburtstag von Steffen Wenig, Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG Sonderheft. Berlin, 129–151. Gabriel, B., Bradley, R., Wolf, P., Abdel Hafiz, N. & Faroug Ali, M. 2005 Nazca Lines in the Sudan? Gravel Features at the Fourth Nile Cataract. In: Sahara 16, 75–90. Gabriel, B. & Karberg, T. 2011 Archäologischer Survey in der nördlichen Bayuda (Sudan) – Wadi Abu Dom und 4. Nilkatarakt im Vergleich. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 89–109. Gabriel, B. & Lohwasser, A. 2010 Google Earth und Groundcheck: Beispiele aus dem Wadi Abu Dom (Bayuda, N-Sudan). In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 21, 51–62. Gabriel, B. & Wolf, P. 2007 Geoglyphs at the 4th Nile Cataract (Sudan): Children’s Playground, Art, or Else? In: Näser, C. & Lange, M. (eds.), Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract, Berlin, August 4th – 6th, 2005. Meroitica 23. Berlin, 34–42. Huard, P. & Massip, J. M. 1967 Monuments du Sahara nigéro-tchadien. In: Bulletin de I’Institut fondamental d’Afrique Noire B29.1–2, 1–17. Jesse, F., Fiedler, M. & Gabriel, B. 2013 A Land of Thousand Tumuli. An Archaeological Survey in the Region of El Gol, South of the 5th Nile Cataract, North Sudan. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 24, 59–73. Kleinitz, C. 2004 Rock Art and ‘Rock Gongs’ in the Fourth Nile Cataract Region: The Ishashi Island Rock Art Survey. In: Sudan & Nubia 8, 12–17. Kronenberg, A. 1958 Die Teda von Tibesti. Wiener Beiträge zur Kulturgeschichte und Linguistik 12. Wien.

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Lohwasser, A. 2011 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.). Kampagne 2011. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 59-68. Lohwasser, A., Eger, J. & Karberg, T. 2014 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.). Kampagne 2014. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 177–188. Milburn, M. 2006 Some Enigmatic Phenomena of the East, Central and West Sahara. In: Kroeper, K., Chlodnicki, M. & Kobusiewicz, M. (eds.), Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa. In Memory of Lech Krzyzaniak. Studies in African Archaeology 9. Poznan, 313–320. Milburn, M. & Köbel-Wettlauffer, R. 1973 Contribution to the Study of Some Lithic Monuments of West Sahara. In: Almogaren 4, 103–150. Morel, J. 1982 Les pierres à gorge du Sahara. Inventaire provisoire et essai d’ interprétation. In: Journal des Africanistes 52, 68–94. Riemer, H. 2004 Holocene Game Drives in the Great Sand Sea of Egypt? Stone Structures and their Archaeological Evidence. In: Sahara 15, 31–42. Riemer, H. & Kuper, R. 2000 Clayton Rings: Enigmatic Ancient Pottery in the Eastern Sahara. In: Sahara 12, 91–100. Wolf, P. 2004 The SARS Anglo-German Expedition at the Fourth Cataract of the Nile: the 2003/04 Season. In: Sudan & Nubia 8, 17–26. Wolf, P. & Gabriel, B. 2008 Linear Stone Constructions at the 4th Nile Cataract (Sudan) – A preliminary overview. In: Gratien, B. (ed.), Actes de la 4e Conférence Internationale sur l´Archéologie de la 4e Cataracte du Nil. Villeneuve-dʼAscq, 22–23 juin 2007. Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Egyptologie de Lille, Suppl. 7, 51–71. Wolf, P. & Nowotnick, U. 2005 The Second Season of the SARS Anglo-German Expedition to the Fourth Cataract. In: Sudan & Nubia 9, 22–32. 2006 The Third Season of the SARS Anglo-German Expedition to the Fourth Cataract of the Nile. In: Sudan & Nubia 10, 20–33.

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The Geoarchaeology Web Service 2.0: Open Archaeological Geodata of the Bayuda André Beuger

Abstract Today, Geoinformation Systems are an integral part of scientific work and heritage management. In combination with the interactive ‘Web 2.0’, online GIS platforms are ideal instruments to reach nonspecialised users and to meet future requirements of open access and data reproducibility. The presented web-based framework Geoarchaeology Web Service 2.0 was developed as an open concept to simplify administration and compability. Configuration and standards are key prerequisites for easy data sharing and guarantee long-term accessibility. The bandwidth of a broad and comprehensive use of these standards increases, but implementations of open archaeological data are subjects to uncertainties concerning handling and acceptance of publishing collected digital information. Keywords: Geoweb 2.0, Open Data, Open Source Strategies, WebGIS, Wadi Abu Dom

1. Introduction The cartographical visualization of field data and its interpretation has been a key method in archaeology since the 19th c. Starting from paper-based manual drawing and mapping on static templates, the emergence of computerized geoinformation systems have permanently altered data acquisition, data management and the level of mapping performance. Today the benefit of GIS in archaeology is undeniable; it is seen as a standard instrument in research and heritage management. The implemented analytic tools opened up new approaches in analyzing geomorphological and cultural processes.1 A basic idea of maps and GIS is to use visualization as a support in the procedure of cognition. But beyond the illustration of local sites, landscapes and cultural interactions, modern GI-software with its linked geodatabases offer the opportunity of storing, gathering and combining several different data types. So it is predestined not only for designing maps but to realize new perspectives in research. To publish those new outcomes, one option, of course, is to print it as a static map. But to achieve the full potential of a GIS with worldwide data access and exchange, another idea is an interactive and globally networked geodata pool presented on a web-based platform. But what is the situation like on the ground? One consequence of digital archaeology is the rapid quantity exponentiation of knowledge which has to be processed and transferred. So, on one hand, long-term and homogenous archiving of digital data is an ongoing topic.2 Another 1 2

Cf. Kvamme 1989; Wheatley 1995; Herzog 2014. Cf. Winghart 2013 and Ianus 2016 for German approaches.

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aspect is the compelling need of a broad archaeological and interdisciplinary exchange of digital content and the development of its information infrastructures. Nevertheless, research preparation is still too often limited by local networks or even single desktop-GIS solutions with individual data management concepts.3 To face the problem, the number of webbased archaeological geoportals recently increased significantly.4 To meet the requirements of reusability and high interoperability of geodata and software elements between those institutional solutions, the roadmap has to be to create standardised and open concepts. The topic of this paper is the archaeological web portal Geoarchaeology Web Service 2.0 (http://geo-archaeology.uni-muenster.de). The introduction to the system architecture and the workflow methodology of the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project (W.A.D.I.) are already well described by Torsten Prinz et al.5 This text will give a brief overview with some additional notes on user functionality, architecture, software and file standards and will embed the service in some background information on web-based mapping. It will question the position of archaeological webGIS in the current discourse on open access, open data and standardisation.

2. The Evolution of Web-Based Mapping There is no common sense about the definition and nomenclature of web mapping, internet cartography, online mapping or webGIS. Usually, those terms describe the same subject.6 Essentially, a connection of two computers by a Local Area Network (LAN) sharing geodata is the simplest form of a webGIS.7 Furthermore, its basic functionality on a 2.0 level should allow the user free panning and zooming simply via a web browser instead of special software.8 A webGIS needs a basic architecture of a client-server configuration, a spatial database, a map server and a client-side viewer implemented in a web page. Since the rise of the dynamic Web 2.0,9 this ‘digital revolution’ offers a unique chance of global data exchange and interactive visualization, particularly within the scientific community. The idea of the ‘participatory internet’ as a platform, which transforms the user from a passive consumer to an active part, prompts scientists to choose numerous applications like social media or online publication platforms.10 The improvement of online maps is closely connected to the Web 2.0 but started even before the internet age. Two elemental timestamps mark this evolution into the ‘Geoweb 2.0’:11

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Borgman 2015: 206, with a high percentage of data stored on local servers. Cf. iDAI 2016; MEGA Jordan 2016; Road 2016. Prinz et al. 2014. Otherwise a webGIS, taken literally as an information system, has to provide an information query service, which a web map does not has to offer. GISwiki 2016; Djindijan 2008: 9. Thrakas et al. 2004: 40. Cf. O’Reilly 2004. For different definitions see Wagner et al. 2011: 65. Bartling & Friesike 2014a: 4. First described by Herring 1994. See also Graham 2009 on the term ‘Neography’ and the development of spatial data on the internet.

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1. The start of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the introduction of the World Wide Web (WWW) for the internet in 1989–91.12 2. The birth of the next level of interactivity by Google Maps13 and Google Earth14 in 2005. Geoinformation network technology was invented in the early 1960s, but was for a long time limited to local servers.15 Some cornerstones were set in the 1980s with first trials in car navigation by Teleatlas16 and Navtech, but finally the vital impulses of GPS and the WWW resulted in first map servers like the Xerox PARC Map Viewer appearing in 1993.17 This phase can be characterized as dominated by proprietary software and commercial providers. It meant low interoperability, low standards and, according to the available technologies, only static maps which had to be refreshed each time. The first interactive maps then had to deal with slow servers, the low number of possible simultaneous client requests and the lack of user interactivity.18 Following the transformation to Web 2.0 at the turn of the millennium, the year 2005 marked an important watershed in web mapping with the innovation of Google Maps and their virtual globe Earth. It provides high resolution satellite images and the first open API (Application Programming Interface) which allows users to create individual maps. Google followed Yahoo Maps,19 the open community project Open Street Map,20 Esri ArcIMS21 and Mapquest22 using several new web application technologies to enhance web mapping.23 It changed this internet sector to a popular, multifunctional and dynamic service, with a rising range of innovative open source environments available. This ongoing ‘democratisation’ phase24 involving the community means more interoperability, independence and also competitive development pressure.

3. The Geoarchaeology Web Service 2.0 To customize field data online, the W.A.D.I. project took the advantage to invent a webGIS platform in close cooperation with the Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster (IfGi).25 Another aim was to standardise and enhance field data acquisition by mobile 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Berners-Lee 1989. The initial idea of the WWW was to simplify scientific data sharing. Google Maps 2016. Google Earth 2016. PennState 2016; Feldman 2011. Edwards 2015. Others were the first online National Atlas of Canada (Atlas of Canada 1994), Mapquest 1996 (Mapquest 2016), Esri ArcIMS (Esri 2006) and the first open source software UNM Mapserver 1.0 in 1997 (UNM Mapserver 1997), followed by Geoserver in 2001 (Geoserver 2016). PennState 2016. Yahoo Maps 2017. Open Street Map 2016. Esri 2006. Mapquest 2016. PennState 2016: AJAX (Asynchronous JavascriptAnd XML), SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), mashups, tile caching. Vandencasteele 2013: Slide 3. Warrlich 2012; Prinz et al. 2014.

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GIS.26 The objective of the Geoarchaeology Web Service 2.0 is to provide a web mapping portal for disposal which is intended to represent standardised field data and to improve the interoperability within archaeological projects. The two pilot studies available at present with their different scientific focus demonstrate the potential of various scales and complex spatial data visualizations. The W.A.D.I. project and the Dülü Baba Tepesi (Doliche, Turkey) project of the Research Centre Asia Minor, University of Münster,27 transform varying datatypes from vector survey points and polygons generated by mobile handhelds to high-resolution raster datasets (CAD-plans, satellite images, UAS). The infrastructure components follow an open source web mapping concept, including general aspects of a Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) specified by the European Union INSPIRE directive (Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe).28 The design focused on a high degree of stability, geospatial standards and a user-friendly simple toolbox system to allow later on extensions and to invite the interested and not GIS specialized community to participate. To justify the label ‘2.0’ and to simplify this interaction, the unique tool of this portal is the opportunity for the client to upload data directly to the server. For a quick view and comparison, this feature is temporary, which means, by refreshing the portal the uploaded data will vanish. To display them permanently, they have to be processed by the map server administrator.

3.1 Architecture and Configuration As indicated above, a webGIS application, defined as a client-server infrastructure using the WWW, is a service-oriented system (Fig. 1). The basic activity is a request by the user, operating on a client computer; the server’s response is simply displayed in a web browser. As a key link in a geodata transaction, specific administration software acts on a web server to modify and provide maps online. The general communication is performed by Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).29 By opening or panning the map, the client sends a ‘getcapabilities’-request and the

Fig. 1: 26 27 28 29

Schematic workflow diagram of a WebGIs application.

Prinz et al. 2014: 97–99. Doliche 2016. INSPIRE 2016. HTTP 2016.

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The Architecture of the Geoarchaeology Web Service with the Server Administration and the Client Interface above.

server returns a ‘getmap’-answer commonly in a simple and well-known raster data format like *jpeg or *png. Object data, underlying in a geodatabase, are returned as ‘GetFeatureInfos’. These requests are written in XML-standard30 (Extensible Markup Language), a humanreadable multifunctional format or the specific GML-file (Geography Markup Language),31 a geographic information XML-type to describe geometries. These operations together are called a Web Map Service32 (WMS). On the server-side administration, the datasets are stored by PostgreSQL33 (Fig. 2), one of the most developed and accepted open source Object-Relational Database Management Systems (ORDBMS). The geodatabase extension PostGIS34 enables the database to process spatial information and multiple geometries. Usually, datasets are migrated by desktop-GIS but can also be uploaded directly by the client as mentioned above. The core administration tool is Geoserver,35 a comfortable and user-friendly open source map server, written in Java to process and publish data in open standards like WMS. This is the simplest and common standard used among others.36 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

XML 2016. GML 2016. WMS 2016. PostgreSQL 2016. PostGIS 2016. Geoserver 2016. Web Processing Service, Web Feature Service, Web Coverage Service etc.

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On the client side, the maps are displayed by Open Layers,37 a Java-scripted API with a package of tools like scale bars to create individual map views. As all data are organized in layers, the extension GeoExt38 provides an appealing graphical interface with a treestructured classification and user-friendly framework tools like layer opacity. A further important application of this frontend configuration is the integration of external background base layers like Google Satellite and Open Street Map.

3.2 Frontend Functionality The main viewer in the center is flanked on the right by the panel containing the pulldown menu with the main- and subprojects and the legend below (Fig. 3). On the left panel, the table of content (TOC) is situated with the available data folders in a free selectable order. Beside printing and panning, the most important tool is the upload button for the user files. Projections should be in WGS84 (EPSG code 4326) for raster data and WGS84/UTM Zone 36N spatial reference (EPSG code 32636) for vector data to have best and correct results. By selecting a single feature, detailed information pop up as ‘GetFeatureInfos’ (Fig. 4).

Fig. 3:

Screenshot of the web page with the client data upload window.

The files available for individual upload are *kml and *shp.39 As a shapefile is a composition of at least three, but up to five or even nine files (*shp, *shx, *dbf…), it should be zipped before uploading. To enable quick upload directly from a GPS handheld, the well-known and open XML standard *gpx format as a further option is supported.40 The question of standardization is now specified as follows. 37 38 39 40

Open Layers 2016; Jansen & Adams 2010. GeoExt 2016. See Section 4.1. GPX 2016.

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Single feature information in a pop-up window.

4. Open Standards and Open Strategies It has been shown above that the enhancement of internet technologies and network infrastructures shifted the options of data sharing and open web models. Since then the challenges of open scientific concepts with all consequences are widely in discussion.41 Datasets form the basis of any argumentation, so it has to be distinguished between open raw data and open access to precisely formulated publications. Demands, expectations and handling of open papers and open data are quite different. Among other considerations Borgman mentions potential increases of data values while treatises commonly serve the scientific perception.42 But the status of archaeological data is divergent. The aspect of open data is also closely linked to open and standardised geo file formats used by the W.A.D.I. team with the intention to reach a maximum possible extended data sharing and reusability. Early in 1994, stakeholders took account of that fact by starting a commonly accepted association for standardization as well as by developing ISO standards. 41 42

For latest publications see Borgman 2015 and Bartling & Friesike 2014. Borgman 2015: 40–45, 278–279.

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4.1 Web and File Standards To achieve a GIS-compatible and interoperable data pool, the web service supports the standard geospatial data types like the Google format keyhole markup language43 (*kml) derived from Google Earth and the also proprietary but generally accepted vector format Esri shapefile.44 Together with the already mentioned openGIS web standards used by Geoserver, all formats are specified and certified by the Open Geospatial Consortium45 (OGC) (Fig. 5), a nonprofit organization in close cooperation with the technical committee No. 211 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO/TC211).46 The OGC is joined by commercial providers like Esri, universities and governmental organizations to develop standards for geodata formats to ensure communication between various GIS software and components.

Fig. 5:

43 44 45 46

The two non-profit organizations guaranteeing file standards (OGC) and long-term and stable developments (OSGeo). Below the additional used *gpx format.

KML 2016. Esri 1998. OGC 2016. ISO/TC211 2016.

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4.2 Data Preparation and Standardization The W.A.D.I. data acquisition with a mobile GIS generated only polygons and point vector data to simplify and accelerate the workflow. Polygons represent archaeological sites with a unique site number. Points are single features inside the polygons with sub numbers. For purposes of verifying and validation, points without a polygon were not admitted. The database is divided into categories with subcategories to describe the archaeological sites and their features. The main category data form the basis for the web visualization. These meta-category data are represented by our SVG styled symbol library which allows being expanded for example by icons representing specific vessel types or the like. Referential data integrity by avoiding redundancy is a core requirement of relational databases. Therefore, data consistency is also decisive for a problem-free WebGIS implementation. But the objective of standardised obtained field data is naturally subject to restrictions by the ‘human factor’.47 It turned out that even specified pulldown menus leave space for individual decisions in site and feature descriptions. To avoid confusion and an unmanageable number of different site and feature data, the database had to be harmonized in an elaborate process. At this point, it has to be stated that with regard to a possible expansion of this web service, a commonly accepted thesaurus of specific archaeological sites of the Bayuda desert is a desideratum up to now.

4.3 Open Strategies There are multiple reasons for following an open source strategy. Besides the reduction of costs and low administration effort,48 open concepts offer high data interface diversity to avoid dependency on proprietary solutions.49 The open codes allow developing customized solutions for archaeological matters. Another welcome effect is a potentially high compatibility to other open source mapping platforms. To ensure an ongoing dynamic but stable development of all components, Geoserver, PostgreSQL/PostGIS, GeoExt and Open Layers are under the umbrella of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo),50 a nonprofit organization to support open source projects and to guarantee long-term usability (Fig. 5). An archaeological web mapping portal is affected by the open movement as it is proposed to be situated at the intersection of open access and open data when research results are published. This is based on the claim that it can be seen as a form of a supplement or standalone publication with descriptive, selective and visualized interpretations either with or without promoting a thesis or clear intention.51 It can provide not only raw datasets reflecting a physical archaeological inventory but is also able to visualize a thesis or predictions (predictive modeling) supported and shaped by the datasets. Likewise, it is claimed that a continuing access 47 48 49 50 51

Prinz et al. 2014: 104. In fact, there are development costs for open source products: “ʻFree softwareʼ is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of ʻfreeʼ as in ʻfree speechʼ, not as in ʻfree beerʼ.” (Stallman 2002: 43). But the practical benefit of a user is individual cost reduction. Prinz et al. 2014: 93. It also has to be kept in mind that releasing data on e.g. Google Earth means sending data to Google. OsGeo 2016. Borgman 2015: 215–216; Beck 2013: 42.

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to research data should be possible even after a publication. A web portal may have answers to these requirements, and regarding quite common extended periods between research end and final publication, it can help to accelerate the process of knowledge transfer. Within the humanities, archaeology with its spatial related data is concerned in particular with the circumstances set out in the guidelines of the ‘Budapest Declaration’ on open access in 200252 and also the INSPIRE directive. Moreover, research funding institutions already stated that open access and open data will be binding in the near future.53 But releasing open archaeological data has to consider some contradictory viewpoints. In the difficult area of a substantial public and scientific interest and the requirements of cultural property protection, the discourse fluctuates between a feared impact on site looting and a demanded general accessibility to sites which should also apply for their digital information.54 Free satellite data, increasing touristic (web-) information and also expended touristic routes have already changed the situation of heritage protection of archaeological structures above ground even in arid and semi-arid regions. While the data remain with the stakeholders, the consequences of publishing sensitive records may be quite unclear. These points concern the questions of ownership, licensing, control and data security. One option to address this problem is to select or modify data, intended for publishing. An alternative choice is to release the full information in a restricted area of a webGIS with access authorisation for a limited group of persons only.55

5. Conclusion – Perspectives and Limits of Open Data Subsuming, the advantages and perspectives of an open geoweb portal are quite obvious. Despite the above mentioned concerns, the W.A.D.I project decided to commit to recent and future requirements of the open data policy by using the great opportunities and advantages of reproducibility, data sharing and to communicate information immediately. The aspects of interdisciplinary cooperations and the effects on transparency and the external perception of archaeology should also not be underestimated. It guarantees a quick and easy access to geodata without any specific knowledge via a web browser and a simple internet connection. So the independence from desktopGIS-Software enables non-specialized scientists and the public to participate. The described development allows comparative studies and a quick data ‘countercheck’.Apart from that, the proof of concept with two projects demonstrates the potential of the Geoarchaeology Web Service in the visualization of diverging geodatasets. Architecture and design take account to future enhancements, expansions and subsequent adjustments and offer easy direct uploading as a unique advanced feature. But there are also good reasons to debate the access to open archaeological data. Most constraints are related to data management and control. The policies and procedures of releasing data have to be considered carefully; after all also by asking how long data have to be accessible regarding the necessary resources to meet 52 53 54 55

Budapest Declaration 2002, followed by the Berlin Declaration 2003 for the German scientific community. Cf. Borgman 2014: 7–8 for a brief history of the open access trend. Pampel 2016; DFG 2015. Cf. Borgman 2015: 174–175 for international funding. Ickerodt 2013: 28. Paper based map publications also share information about sites and their position. This means at least the exact position or other sensitive information.

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these ambitions.56 The growing practices of open standards are a helpful and innovative method to encourage data exchange and address the problem of data heterogeneity. But a coherent approach is still missing as too many diverging research focusses lead to different standalone framework architectures by separate institutions. The Geoarchaeology Web Service as one of these standalone developments has nevertheless the potential of easy data migration and is at least a suggestion to bundle and concentrate archaeological knowledge. Looking closer at the data structures, consistence is an essential prerequisite for a stringent webGIS implementation, and a debate on a common accepted thesaurus of at least the Bayuda sites and their digital appearance is considered necessary. It would be desirable if this discussion leads to ontological configurations, which are ready for future developments to integrate more and ‘big data’ into graph oriented semantic web infrastructures, defined as ‘Linked Data’.57 The Geoarchaeology Web Service 2.0 is at disposal for an extended use of open archaeological data of the Bayuda region and beyond.

Acknowledgements The Geoarchaeology Web Service was built and setup by the Institute for Geoinformatics, University of Münster. We are thankful to our colleagues Torsten Prinz and Stephanie Walter who provided expertise that greatly assisted also the field research with a mobile GIS application. We are especially grateful to André Wieghardt for assistance and patient support with server setups and Geoserver administration.

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GeoExt 2016 JavaScript Toolkit for Rich Web Mapping Applications. http://geoext.org/ (accessed 2016-0121). Geoserver 2016 http://geoserver.org/ (accessed 2016-01-21). GISwiki 2016 Geoinformatik – Veranstaltungen – News – Informationen. http://giswiki.org/wiki/WebGIS (accessed 2015-07-02). GML 2016 http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/gml (accessed 2015-05-24). Google Earth 2016 https://www.google.de/intl/de/earth/ (accessed 2016-06-02). Google Maps 2016 Google’s Complete Map Content Specifications. https://support.google.com/mapcontentpartners/answer/144284?hl=en (accessed 2016-06-02). GPX 2016

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Ianus 2016 Forschungsdatenzentrum Archäologie & Altertumswissenschaften. http://www.ianus-fdz.de/ (accessed 2015-08-23). Ickerodt, U. 2013 Freie Daten für freie Bürger – Ein Essay über archäologische Daten, die Öffentlichkeit und open data. In: Winghart, S. (ed.), Archäologie und Informationssysteme. Vom Umgang mit archäologischen Fachdaten in Denkmalpflege und Forschung. Arbeitshefte zur Denkmalpflege in Niedersachsen 42, Hannover, 28–33. iDAI 2016

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Open Layers 2016 http://openlayers.org (accessed 2017-09-20). Open Street Map 2016 https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=5/51.500/-0.100 (accessed 2015-04-18). O’Reilly, T. 2005 What is Web 2.0? Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software. http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html (accessed 2015-05-15). OsGeo 2016 Open Source Geospatial Foundation. http://www.osgeo.org/content/foundation/about.html (accessed 2016-01-22). Pampel, H. 2015 DFG verankert Open Access verbindlich in Förderprogramm. In: wisspub.net. Gemeinschaftsblog zu wissenschaftlicher Kommunikation im Netz. https://wisspub.net/2015/01/10/dfg-verankert-open-access-verbindlich-in-forderprogramm/ (accessed 2017-01-25). PennState 2017 College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Department of Geography. The history and importance of web mapping. https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog585/node/643 (accessed 2017-09-21). PostGIS 2016 Spatial and Geographic objects for PostgreSQL. http://postgis.net/ (accessed 2016-01-21). PostgreSQL 2016 https://www.postgresql.org/ (accessed 2016-01-21). Prinz, T., Walter, S., Wieghardt, A., Karberg, T. & Schreiber, T. 2014 GeoArchaeology Web 2.0: Geospatial Information Services Facilitate New Concepts of WebBased Data Visualisation Strategies in Archaeology – Two Case Studies from Surveys in Sudan (Wadi) and Turkey (Doliche). In: Archaeological Discovery 2, 91–106. http://www.scirp.org/ journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=50492 (accessed 2014-11-05). Road 2016

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Thrakas, A., Adams, T., Biakowski, C., Christl, A., Emde, A. & Thelen, B. 2004 Praxishandbuch WebGIS mit freier Software. UMN MapServer. PostSQL/PostGIS. AveiN!. Mapbender. Ein Gemeinschaftsprojekt von CCGIS und terrestris. Bonn 2004. http://www.terrestris.de/wp-media/downloads/Praxishandbuch_WebGIS_Freie_Software.pdf (accessed 201412-02). UNM Mapserser 1997 Open Source Web Mapping. http://mapserver.org/ (accessed 2016-06-14). Vandencasteele, A. 2013 Past, Present and Future of Webmapping Application. A Brief Introduction. http://de.slideshare. net/arno974/past-present-and-future-of-webmapping-application (accessed 2015-07-13). Wagner, U., Wiedmann, K.-P. & Oelsnitz, D. v. d. 2011 Das Internet der Zukunft. Bewährte Erfolgstreiber und neue Chancen. Wiesbaden. Warrlich, R. 2012 Entwicklung eines prototypischen Webservices zur Visualisierung archäologischer Befunde am Beispiel des Projektes Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (Sudan). B.Sc.-Thesis, University of Münster, Institute for Geoinformatics (ifgi). WMS 2016 Web Map Service Specification. http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/wms (accessed 201604-22). Wheatley, D. 1995 Cumulative viewshed analysis: a GIS-based method for investigating intervisibility, and its archaeological application. In: Lock, G. & Stancic, Z. (eds.), Archaeology and Geographical Information Systems: A European Perspective. London, 171–186. Winghart, S. 2013 Archäologie und Informationssysteme. Vom Umgang mit archäologischen Fachdaten in Denkmalpflege und Forschung. Arbeitshefte zur Denkmalpflege in Niedersachsen 42, Hannover. XML 2016 http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/ (accessed 2016-03-26). Yahoo Maps 2017 https://maps.yahoo.com/b/ (accessed 2017-09-20).

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So-Called Gravel Beds: Assessing Function Through Experiments1 Jalina Tschernig & Loai Shamsalola

Abstract So-called gravel beds are rectangular-shaped structures of large outlining stones with a packed gravel filling. In the Wadi Abu Dom, the first gravel beds were found by the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) project during the 2009 campaign. Since then, several hundred more have been found in this wadi, as well as other regions in the Sudan. The function of these structures is largely unknown. This article broaches the issue of gravel beds and proposes the function of these structures. Data gathered in surveys and interviews suggest that gravel beds, known to locals as alsidab, were used as beds in regions where wood was a scarce and valuable resource. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate the usefulness of experimental archaeology to gain a broader understanding of the construction of architectural structures. The process and results of these experiments are presented in this article. Keywords: Alsidab, Desert Survey, Experimental Archaeology, Gravel Bed, Gravel Platform

Introduction Deserts may seem to be hostile places to inhabit. But upon a closer look, evidence of anthropogenic structures (i.e. stone circles, shelters, etc.) in these regions demonstrates the presence of humans in the past. Such is the case concerning so-called gravel beds or gravel platforms. Locals in the state of Al-Qadarif know these structures as alsidabs. Thus far, the gravel beds have been discovered in two regions: the Bayuda area, particularly in the Wadi Abu Dom2 and the Fourth Cataract region,3 and in the southern region of the Sudan in the state of Al-Qadarif. In the Wadi Abu Dom, gravel beds were found in the Upper and Middle Wadi, while being completely absent in the Lower Wadi.4 In total, more than 1200 gravel beds were found in the Wadi Abu Dom. In general, gravel beds are situated in the main wadi and tributary valleys, on top of gravel terraces, where such features were and still are safe during high floods. 1

2 3 4

The authors would like to thank Angelika Lohwasser for the opportunity to publish our results, Tim Karberg, Baldur Gabriel, Henryk Paner, Jana Helmbold-Doyé and Petra Weschenfelder for their valuable advice, as well as Nina Overesch for helping with the experiments and especially Abagail Breidenstein for linguistic comments. Cf. Lohwasser 2013; Lohwasser & Karberg 2013. Paner 2003a: 18; Paner 2003b: 178; Paner & Borcowski 2005: 99 and 101. Only one solitary gravel bed was found in the Lower Wadi Abu Dom (site 38-1); Lohwasser 2009: 109.

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Gravel beds are oval or rectangular in shape and typically 2 x 1–1.5 m in size, with dimensions rarely deviating from these measurements. The outer perimeter is constructed with flat and/ or round head-sized stones, which can be found on the gravel terraces, while the inner filling consists of compact gravel (Fig. 1). For the most part, the gravel filling does not fill the structure completely, instead it stops 10–15 cm underneath the top edge. Gravel beds can be found solitary, but are more commonly organised in clusters, and always without clear distribution patterns. When more than one gravel bed is present at a site, the structures are often at a 90° angle to each other (Fig. 2). On rare occasions, two gravel beds are adjacent on the long sides (Fig. 3). Additionally, some gravel beds are situated within a large stone circle. In one exceptional case, it is documented that the circle was built before the gravel bed, because the gravel bed follows the outline of the limiting stone circle (Fig. 4). In the Upper Wadi Abu Dom, some gravel beds have small adjoining stone platforms (ca. 50 x 50 cm) on either of the long sides (Fig. 5). The function of these adjoining platforms is currently unknown and remains a topic for further investigation. In general, the orientation of the gravel beds is inconsistent, which may indicate a plausible domestic use. Religious structures, like qiblas (an Islamic space for prayer that is outlined with small stones), are always oriented to Mekka or a certain cardinal point. Their human body-like dimensions and resemblance to a burial are misleading when interpreting the utility of gravel beds. Their size and shape are tempting to interpret these structures as graves, e.g. Islamic graves5 or poorly preserved box graves. Although bones are often present in the immediate vicinity of heavily disturbed graves, this is not the case with gravel beds. Excavations in the Wadi Abu Dom,6 in the Fourth Cataract region,7 and in the state of Al-Qadarif have demonstrated that gravel beds are not graves. In fact, no skeletal remains or any other archaeological finds have been found underneath the superstructure. The only finds associated with gravel beds are ceramics and, more uncommonly, spindle whorls and grinding stones. This clearly indicates a domestic use (see below).

Fig. 1: 5 6 7

Gravel bed (site 5820-2) (photo W.A.D.I.).

Welsby 2001: 104–105, Pls. 3.26 & 2.28. Lohwasse et al. 2015: 116–117. Paner 2003a: 18; 2003b: 178; Paner & Borcowski 2005: 101.

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Fig. 2:

Group of two gravel beds (site 8238-2) (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 3:

Two adjecent gravel beds (site 3483-11) (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 4:

Gravel bed within a stone circle (site 5825-2) (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 5:

Gravel bed with adjoining platform (site 5259-2) (photo W.A.D.I.).

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A brief analysis of the pottery associated with the gravel beds from the Wadi Abu Dom allows to date these structures to the Post-Meroitic and Medieval periods, with a majority of material finds from the latter. Among the Medieval pottery, representatives of the handmade globular pots were present as well as wheel-made pottery.8 This method of dating using associated material finds was also implemented by Henryk Paner with gravel beds in the Fourth Cataract region. The analysis leads to the assumption that these structures could be dated to the Meroitic9 and Post-Meroitic period.10

Proposed Hypotheses for the Function of Gravel Beds The utility of gravel beds was long unknown, although many ideas were proposed with regard to their function. Here, the three main theories are presented: gravel beds as a) watering troughs for animals, b) the underlayment for slaughter and/or drying tables for eatables or c) gold washing tables. Due to the fact that gravel beds are often found in association with stone rings, a domestic function is very probable. This is also the interpretation of another scholar working in the area with similar finds.11 One theory suggests that gravel beds served as drinking troughs for animals.12 However, drinking troughs are normally sealed with a layer of clay to prevent water from escaping too quickly or trickling away. This feature was never present in gravel beds. Though the rectangular shape and size of drinking troughs is very similar to gravel beds, the riparian position of gravel beds on shallow terraces casts this theory into doubt. It does not seem feasible for herdsmen to build a drinking trough for their animals when water can easily be reached. Moreover, the high quantity of gravel beds makes this theory less likely. Another proposed theory suggests that the platform-like structures could have been used as a sand-free platform for animal slaughter, e.g. goats or sheep, and to dry the meat or other eatables, such as herbs or vegetables.13 Although it remains unclear how utilizing gravel beds in this way would have prevented the lighter materials (e.g. herbs) from flying away, when it is much easier to hang the food in small trees. Additionally, the gravel platform may be protected against sand coming from underneath, but it can still be blown in by the wind. Furthermore, it was suggested that gravel beds may be associated with similar-shaped structures used for washing gold.14 Although the shape of gold washing tables appears to be similar, the size and associated finds, e.g. large amounts of lithic tools and rotary querns, differ immensely from gravel beds.15 Lithic tools are seldom found near gravel beds. Additionally, the high quantity and spatial distribution of gravel beds make this theory improbable.

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

This brief analysis of pottery was conducted by Jana Helmbold-Doyé (Curator, Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung Berlin). Paner 2003a: 18; Paner 2003b: 178. Paner & Borcowski 2005: 99. Henryk Paner, personal communication. Lohwasser 2009: 109. Baldur Gabriel, personal communication. Paner 2005: 101. Castiglioni et al. 1998, 134–138; Castiglioni & Castiglioni 2004: 122–126 and Fig. 93.

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Alsidabs In the summer of 2011, the Sudanese Ministry of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electricity (Dam Implementation Unit) commissioned an archaeological survey due to the construction of the Upper Atbara and Setit Dam Complex in the state of Al-Qadarif. The survey was conducted by the National Corporation for Antiquities & Museums (NCAM) under the direction of Mahmoud Suliman Bashir and Murtada Bushara in the area endangered by the dam construction and flooding. During the archaeological survey and excavations, interviews with the local people were carried out. These interviews revealed that gravel beds are commonly known as alsidab and were used as bed-like installations. The English language does not have a proper translation for this Arabic word. In regions where there is a shortage of wood for anqaribs, traditional wooden framed beds, gravel beds are utilized instead.16 This instance explains the lack of gravel beds in the Lower Wadi Abu Dom very well, since here the Nile valley is close and suitable building material for anqaribs is available. In the Middle and Upper Wadi Abu Dom, wood was not as easily obtained; therefore, alsidabs might be built as a substitute. The outer stone structure of the gravel beds would keep out dangerous reptiles and arachnids, such as snakes and scorpions. It may be argued that gravel beds provide a welcoming environment for such creatures, which can easily hide between the stones and thus pose danger for humans. But, in fact, the original gravel filling was – and in some cases still is – too tight to leave any space for unwanted reptiles and arachnids. Also, the gravel filling acts as protection against the rising moisture and coolness from the ground. The position on flat terraces adds an additional security against water. In some cases, the inner filling of gravel beds seems to be of a darker colour than the surrounding ground surface. It is not yet clear, if the darker gravel is dark enough to absorb heat during the day, then radiate warmth later, which would provide comfort as the temperature drops.17 Most notably, the alsidabs of Al-Qadarif are absolutely identical in size and shape to the gravel beds found in the Wadi Abu Dom. During the interviews, the locals commented that the alsidabs were used by herdsmen during autumn from Medieval until modern times, but are not utilized anymore. We may assume that the alsidabs found in clusters were used by families or larger groups of herdsmen. The fact that herdsmen were users of gravel beds might explain the lack of finds associated with them. In general, herdsmen carry along very few belongings, including waterskins or knives.18 Such items are probably valuable and undoubtedly not left behind. Ethnographic comparisons with nomadic tribes in Sudan and Egypt show that types of sleeping accommodation differ immensely from each other. The Kababish for instance, a nomadic tribe in Sudan’s Northern Kordofan State, use elevated beds made of wood and palm fibre mats, which are known as ferâsh.19 The Bedouins of the Ma’aza tribe from the northern half of Egypt’s Eastern Desert sleep in “depressions – garmuus – scraped in soft sand or gravel to reduce exposure to the wind. In rocky terrain they excavate small shelters or use natural 16 17 18 19

When asked, the Omda (= mayor) of the village of Bir Merwa in the Wadi Abu Dom confirmed this statement in 2015. Baldur Gabriel, personal communication. Roe 2008: 498. Bradley 1992: 46.

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caves as sleeping places.”20 In general, it is to be assumed that the type of sleeping place is influenced by the natural elements (i.e. wind, heat, dampness, insects, etc.) and how to achieve comfort in such an environment.

The Experiments The experiments outlined below were conducted twice during the 2015 W.A.D.I. season, once by the two authors and again by Jalina Tschernig and Nina Overesch.21 The objectives of these experiments were a) to reconstruct how the gravel beds were built and b) to measure construction time. We decided to build three types of gravel beds: (1) a gravel bed with a thin gravel filling (Fig. 6), (2) a gravel bed with a thick gravel filling (10 cm) and an adjoining platform (Fig. 7 front) and (3) a gravel bed within a stone circle (Fig. 7 back). Since most of the gravel beds found in the WadiAbu Dom were situated on flat gravel terraces, the experimenters decided that the construction of the gravel beds would take place at similar locations. The first gravel bed (1) was built on a flat gravel terrace, where overhead-sized stones (up to a meter high) could be found. Acacias and other smaller plants could only be found in the nearby khors (ca. two minutes walking distance). The other two gravel beds (2 and 3) were built on a different terrace with similar geological conditions as the first one. The experiment environment provided all material needed for building the gravel beds: (flat) head-sized stones for the outer structures, golf ball-sized gravel for the filling, and small wooden sticks.

Fig. 6:

20 21

Gravel bed with a thin gravel filling (Experiment 1) (photo W.A.D.I.).

Hobbs 2003: 52. Student of Archaeology, University of Münster.

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Gravel bed with a thick gravel layer and an adjoning platform (front), gravel bed within a stone circle (back) (photo W.A.D.I.).

When building the first gravel bed, construction began with the outer structure by gathering the perimeter stones and immediately arranging them. The experimenters recognised that it was more efficient to collect all materials needed for construction from one place at the same time. In the immediate vicinity of some gravel beds, small concentrations of stones can be found for unknown reasons (Fig. 8). After experimentation, it is now considered that these piles are the remains of the construction process. The stones of the outer structure were placed on the ground directly and were pressed into the sand roughly two centimetres to enhance stability. For some stones, a small stick or lighter stone might be used to build a base of 3–5 cm in depth. For the gravel bed with the thick gravel filling (2), a sturdier outer structure was necessary. Flat stones were leaned against the inside of a first course of stones. This technique was observed in some cases of gravel beds with a thick gravel filling in the Wadi Abu Dom (Fig. 1). The rectangular shape of 2 x 1 m was measured without a scale, but was easy to estimate. After the outer structure was completed for Experiment 1 and 2, the inner space was filled with gravel, which was retrieved from all over the terrace. The experimenters found that collecting gravel with their hands was inefficient, but using a small bag was quicker and more useful. Therefore, it seems likely that the builders of these structures used some sort of container to transport the gravel over small distances. With the archaeological examples, the space around some gravel beds seemed to be intentionally cleared suggesting that this surface cleaning is a result of the outtake of material for the gravel filling. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 8:

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Gravel beds with concentration of stones nearby (site 6988) (photo W.A.D.I.).

For Experiment 3, a large stone circle with a diameter of roughly three meters was built around the third gravel bed. The slightly larger stones were loosely arranged on the ground. A supplementary small platform was built against the gravel bed with the thick gravel layer (Experiment 2). The function of those adjoining platforms is still unknown. The platform was constructed the same way as the gravel beds; first, the outer structure, then the inner filling. Upon finishing, the experimenters tested the built structures as beds and found them to be more comfortable than one may think. The thick gravel filling, especially, was smoother than the original terrace surface, which is irregularly covered with stones, making it uncomfortable to sit or lie upon.

Results As outlined in the objectives, the experimenters were also interested in determining the total time needed to build a gravel bed. When studying the time spent to build such structures, it is important to note that the experimenters were building the beds in teams of two people, for the first time, without practice and worked through the process of construction while building the structures. Practised builders may need less time for construction. Additionally, the authors assume more people would decrease the construction time. Collecting stones for each experiment took ca. 10 minutes each, but was strongly dependent on the presence of suitable material on the terraces. The construction of a simple outer © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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structure (Experiments 1 and 3) took 5 minutes, while the execution of the more complex outer structure for a thick gravel filling (Experiment 2) took 10 minutes. The stone circle (Experiment 3) was laid out within 5 minutes. Filling the outer structure with gravel was the most time-consuminpart of the construction. A thin gravel layer took 10 minutes to assemble (Experiment 1), while a thick gravel layer took 30 minutes (Experiment 2). The adjoining platform was built within 5 minutes. In conclusion, 30 minutes were needed to build a complete gravel bed with a thin gravel layer. With regard to the more complex gravel bed with a thick gravel filling, it took 60 minutes for the entire construction process. It remains unclear if the gravel beds were only used temporarily or for a longer period of time. Based on the experimental results that a simple gravel bed with a thin gravel filling can be built within 30 minutes, it is likely that such beds could be used for a short time period. More complex gravel beds took longer for construction and may therefore be used over a longer period. Especially when an even shorter construction time is assumed for experienced constructors, it seems likely that gravel beds could also be used for overnight stops. In other cases, some gravel beds are found in association with elaborated hut structures, leading to the assumption that these structures could have been used in more stationary habitation contexts as well. During the 2015 W.A.D.I. season, a site containing two gravel beds with a thick gravel filling and a smaller stone filled circle was excavated (site 8254; Fig. 9). The western gravel bed was situated within a large stone circle. The excavation revealed once again, that gravel

Fig. 9:

Surface clearing at site 8524 (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Fig. 10: Excavated gravel bed 8524-2 (photo W.A.D.I.).

beds do not contain burials (Fig. 10). The results of the excavation align with the assumptions from the previous experiments. As seen in Fig. 11, the stones of the outer structure of the excavated gravel bed were lowered into the ground only a few centimetres. Unknowingly, the same archaeological record was generated during the experiments. Unfortunately, the excavations did not explain the purpose of the stone circle around the gravel bed. One might expect to find post-holes close to the stone circle as indicators of some superstructure, but no such features were found. While the presence of superstructures remains possible, it is also likely that poor preservation may prevent identification.

Fig. 11: Detail of the excavated gravel bed 8524-2 (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Conclusion Archaeological evidence, experimentation, and interviews with local inhabitants indicate that the so-called gravel beds or alsidabs are in fact beds used by herdsmen or other people in need of a place to rest for a few nights or longer. Stone was used in place of wooden structures when wood materials were scarce. The authors are aware that modern parallels are missing from this article and have only anecdotal knowledge that similar structures are found in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Eastern Sudan. However, anthropological literature about this topic could not be found or remains unpublished.22 The conducted experiments further the understanding of the construction and function of gravel beds. The results explain the stone concentrations found as remains of building material. We determined that construction time was between 30 and 60 minutes, depending on the complexity of the structure. The experiments did not, however, reveal the purpose of the adjoining platforms. While the analysis of the pottery found associated with gravel beds dates these structures to the Meroitic, Post-Meroitic, and Medieval period, locals stated that they were still used in modern times. Though the main purpose of gravel beds/ alsidabs may be clear, more in depth details are still missing and require further investigation.

Bibliography Bradley, R. J. 1992 Nomads in the Archaeological Record: Case Studies in the Northern Provinces of the Sudan. Meroitica 13. Wiesbaden. Castiglioni, A. & Castiglioni, A. 2004 Gold in the Eastern Desert. In: Welsby, D. A. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Sudan Ancient Treasures – An exhibition of recent discoveries from the Sudan National Museum, London 2004, 122–131. Castiglioni, A., Castiglioni, A. & Vercoutter, J. (eds.), 1998 Das Goldland der Pharaonen. Die Entdeckung von Berenike Pancrisia. Mainz. Hobbs, J. J. 2003 Bedouin Life in the Egyptian Wilderness. Austin. Lohwasser, A. 2009 Ein archäologischer Survey an der Mündung des Wadi Abu Dom, Bayuda. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 20, 101–115. 2013 Das Projekt “Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary”. In: Wenig, S. & Zibelius-Chen, K. (eds.), Die Kulturen Nubiens – Ein afrikanisches Vermächtnis. Dettelbach, 475–486.

22

If such sources are known to the audience, it would be appreciated to contact the authors in order to expand the argument presented in this article.

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Lohwasser, A. & Karberg, T. 2013 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) Kampagne 2013. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 24, 39–50. Lohwasser, A., Eger, J. & Karberg, T. 2015 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) Kampagne 2015. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 26, 109–122. Paner, H. 2003a Archaeological Survey on the Right Bank of the Nile between Kareima and Abu Hamed: A Brief Overview. In: Sudan & Nubia 7, 15–20. 2003b Kerma Culture, Rock Art, Dome Graves and Other Discoveries in the Fourth Nile Cataract Region. In: Gdansk Archaeological Museum African Reports 2, 163–183. Paner, H. & Borcowski, Z. 2005 Gdansk Archaeological Museum Expedition of Eight Seasons’ Work at the Fourth Cataract. In: Gdansk Archaeological Museum African Reports 4, 89–115. Roe, A. 2008 Naming the Waters: New Insights into the Nomadic Use of Oases in the Libyan Desert of Egypt. In: Barnard, H. & Wendrich, W. (eds.), The Archaeology of Mobility. Los Angeles, 487–508. Welsby, D. A. 2001 Life on the Desert Edge – Seven Thousand Years of Settlement in the Northern Dongola Reach, Sudan. BAR International Series 980 (I/II). Oxford.

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Inscriptions in Greek Script on Rock Outcrops in the Wadi Abu Dom1 Alexandros Tsakos

Abstract Recent epigraphic discoveries by the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) project have made interesting additions to the already important corpus of graffiti from medieval Nubia on natural rock outcrops. The sites investigated are in proximity to the monastery at Ghazali and, in combination with the new data obtained at that site by the Ghazali Site Presentation Project, paint a more nuanced picture for literacy and cult in this region of the Makuritan world. The present paper examines these new finds confirming some ideas about Christian beliefs and practices in Makuria, but also offering new interpretations for at least one category of such graffiti. Keywords: Christian Nubia, Rock Inscriptions, Graffiti, Archangel Michael, Ghazali Monastery

Introduction The practice of inscribing texts on natural rock surfaces along the Nile, in the wadis, on top of jebels, or out in the desert, has long been recognized in archaeological research on Nubia. Quite a few of the inscriptions on natural rock surfaces date to the medieval period (ca. 5th–15th c. CE), among them mostly invocations and single words, names or monograms. This material has been treated separately from the rock art, also for reasons of its potential contribution to the analysis of Christian literacy in medieval Nubia.2 The Bayuda desert has been the object of such investigations only indirectly, since these investigations were conducted in the frame of the M.D.A.S.P. and they centered on the areas nearest to or in the Nile valley in the Fourth Cataract region.3 Already in the publication of the inscriptional material from the Fourth Cataract, the present author suggested that for the understanding of phenomena of literacy in this periphery of Makuria, one should turn the attention of future surveys to the area between the Fourth Cataract and the monastery of Ghazali in the Wadi Abu Dom,4 a site that has produced one of the largest corpora of texts from 1

2 3 4

The author would like to thank Angelika Lohwasser for the invitation to study and publish this material; Tim Karberg for providing the photographs upon which the study was made as well as very useful insights to the surrounding landscape and distribution of finds; and Cornelia Kleinitz and Grzegorz Ochała for their advices with several issues related with the understanding of the inscriptions and the improvement of the text. Tsakos 2007: 235–246. See, e.g. Kleinitz & Olsson 2005: 31–38. Tsakos 2007: 245.

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medieval Nubia.5 During a recent survey in the Wadi Abu Dom lead by Angelika Lohwasser, some further epigraphic evidence has been registered, which in combination with the renewed work at the monastery itself will enlarge our understanding of literacy in this region of the Makuritan realm.6 In total, four sites with inscriptions were recorded by the W.A.D.I. project and the epigraphic evidence from these constitutes the material discussed in this article (see Map 1).

Map 1: Rock art and rock inscriptions at the vicinity of Ghazali (map W.A.D.I.).

5

6

A search in the Database of Medieval Nubian Texts (DBMNT) gives 258 individual entries for Ghazali out of 2942 total records. This means that Ghazali represents almost one tenth of the published textual record from Christian Nubia, in this respect being the most proliferous site of Upper Nubia. For example, Old Dongola has produced 184 texts to date. However, at present, only 75 of the nearly 1000 graffiti from Banganarti are recorded in the DBMNT. This said, one should be cautious in how one interprets these numbers, because qualitative issues of, among other things, the variety of the epigraphic nature of each find (e.g. gravestones vs. graffiti) is not taken in consideration in the quantitative body of evidence provided by the DBMNT. Moreover, it is important to keep in mind that the centers of literacy in Lower Nubia have produced much larger numbers of texts, e.g. 469 from Faras and 429 from Qasr Ibrim. Since the M.D.A.S.P. and the 50 years of work of the Polish missions in the Makuritan heartlands, this last observation cannot be considered as simply a result of the history of archaeological research in Nubia. For the Wadi Abu Dom project, see Lohwasser & Karberg in this volume; for the monastery of Ghazali, see Shinnie & Chittick 1961; Obłuski 2014: 197–204, Figs. 1–10; for new inscriptional finds from Ghazali see Obłuski & Ochała 2016: 61–77 (esp. 67–75).

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Site 40 (X: 386144,313293, Y: 2038638,660545)7 The site is located ca. 1.3 km to the south-west of the monastery of Ghazali, on top of a rock formation. On two different boulders, several graffiti in Greek script have been carved. The only built structure in the vicinity is a small rectangular stone structure, filled with pebble, which is located about 100 m to the south on the plateau of this rock formation.

Boulder 1 (Feature 40-1 and Fig. 1) On a smooth, sloping, slightly concave surface, two different ‘words’ can be identified. They were placed beside each other approximately in the center of the rock surface, with the lefthand text positioned slightly higher than the right-hand sequence of letters. Since there is enough space for them to have been written one above the other or on one ‘base line’, it is unlikely that they were part of the same epigraphic effort. It is, however, difficult to ascertain their chronological relation because there is no overlapping and the patination does not appear to differ much, judging from the photographs available, suggesting that the texts are roughly contemporary. Their positioning indicates that the two texts are likely to have been interrelated, as is suggested by the proximity sought between the texts. Given the significance of the righthand sequence of letters, I propose that the text to its left was added after the right-hand text had already been in existence.

Fig. 1:

7

Site 40, Boulder 1 with two inscriptions (Feature 40-1) (photo W.A.D.I.).

Coordinates for the sites are in UTM.

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The right-hand text reads:

ⲭ︦ⲡ︦ⲑ̅

This is the cryptogram of the Archangel Michael, an inscription of a well-attested, rituallypowerful (apotropaic?) function. The left-hand text reads: ⲉ̣ⲣ̣ⲟ̣ⲛ̣ Although the reading is uncertain, I am inclined to interpret the word as the first person plural of the Coptic prepositional phrase meaning “To(wards)/Against us”. The meaning of such an interpretation could subsequently be analyzed twofold: 1. On the one hand, it shows that a group of people placed their visit (?) to this locality under the protection of the powers with which the Nubians imbued the Archangel Michael. 2. On the other hand, this group used the Coptic language to express their religious sentiment and this could very well link them with the nearby monastic community at Ghazali where Coptic was the preferred language.8 I will return to some plausible explanation of the epigraphic act discerned here in the conclusions of this paper.

Boulder 2 (Feature 40-2 and Fig. 2) Right next to Feature 40-1 lies another boulder which is slightly lower in height. In its upper part this boulder provides a large, flat marking surface, on which three different texts were placed, separated by two circles with central crosses. In relation to the central and right-hand texts, the left-hand text is written upside down.

Fig. 2: 8

Site 40, Boulder 2 with text (Feature 40-2) (photo W.A.D.I.).

Among the 258 entries for Ghazali in the DBMNT, the language of 145 texts remains unidentified. From the remaining 113 texts, 75 are in Coptic.

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The central text reads: ⲙⲓⲭⲁⲏⲗ ⲉⲅⲱ ⲉⲛⲱⲭ ⲙⲓⲭⲁⲏⲗ ⲛⲱ̣ⲭ̣ Michael, I Enoch Michael Noch The text in the first line is an understandable invocation to Michael by someone called Enoch who signs with his name preceded by the nominative of the first person singular personal pronoun. In this sense, the text pairs well with the one on Feature 40-1 in focusing on the holiness and power of the Archangel Michael. The name of Enoch is also linked with the cult of the angels, and the Book of Enoch has recently been identified in a manuscript fragment in Coptic from Qasr Ibrim.9 However, due to the presence of the personal pronoun it should rather be interpreted here as a personal name. Two more instances of the use of the name Enoch as a personal name are attested from published Nubian texts.10 The interpretation of the second line is more challenging. It begins with an indent that seems intentional and in balance with the indent at the right end of the same line. The two together create the beginning of an inverse triangle. At the same time, the second line repeats most of the text of line 1. What is missing is the personal pronoun and the initial E of the name Enoch. Both the repetition and the deletion of some of the letters remind us of texts of ritual power.11 However uncertain the interpretations of such texts may be, in this case we can perhaps surmise with a fair degree of probability the function of such a ʻletter-gameʼ: given the presence of rock gongs in the immediate vicinity,12 which might even be the cause of the epigraphic practice we are witnessing, it is worth perhaps interrogating whether this intentional transformation of the written text attempted to create an image of an acoustic effect produced when the lines were sung or echoed. Right-hand text: ⲙⲓⲭ̣ⲁⲏ̣ⲗ̣ Michael Another instance of the name of theArchangel Michael reinforces the picture of the importance of his cult at this spot. Left-hand text: ⲓ̈ⲁⲏⲗ Iael

9 10 11 12

Hagen 2012: 7–34. http://www.medievalnubia.info/dev/index.php/Names. E.g. Meyer & Smith 1999: 37. See Karberg 2009: 131–140, and esp. 137.

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This is the name of another archangel with six known attestations in Christian Nubian texts: five concern inscriptions listing four (DBMNT # 2495 from Ghazali) or seven (DBMNT # 1180 from Kulubnarti; # 1988 and 2214 from Dongola; # 2215 from Qustul) archangels; and one (DBMNT # 1289 from Qasr Ibrim) is a seal with only the name Iael. Based on the repetition of the name of the Archangel Michael and once of the Archangel Iael, the links between the three texts are clear. Therefore, the most plausible interpretation of the presence of these names at this site must be linked with the special functions of these archangels in the religious mindset of the Christian Nubians.

Boulder 3 (Feature 40-3 and Fig. 3): Right below Feature 40-2, one (?) more inscription can be seen pecked on the concave top surface of another boulder. It is read in the same direction as the central inscription on Feature 40-2 and consists of two lines of letters below a symbol of a cross on a circle. The text reads: ⲙ̣ⲓⲭⲁ̣ ⲏ̣ Despite the uncertainty of some readings, the peculiar arrangement of the ‘text’ and the lack of the final letter in the proposed reconstruction, it can nevertheless be suggested with a good degree of probability that the two lines can be read together as: ⲙ̣ⲓⲭⲁ̣ⲏ̣[ⲗ]

Fig. 3:

Site 40, Boulder 3 (Feature 40-3) (photo W.A.D.I.).

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This reconstruction adds to the variety of ways that the name of the Archangel can be written and corroborates the hypothesis that this variety is related, at least at this site, with the way Michael can be invoked. Perhaps because in-vocation derives etymologically from the Latin voces (for the English “voices”), the site should in my opinion be interpreted as the locus of a sonic cult.

Boulder 4 (Feature 40-6 and Fig. 4) At the same site, a fourth rock was marked with several graffiti, mainly crosses, but forms of a textual character are also found. In more detail: A central (?) motif consists of two crosses with crotched (=) arms. The longest cross (to the left) has a letter ⲫ on top. The smallest cross to the right seems without any letters hanging from its antennae. In the middle there seem to be three letters superimposed, the lowest of which is a ⲙ. To the right side of the smallest cross, four letters can be seen that read either ⲓⲥⲟⲩ or ⲓⲥⲁⲩ. The former seems more probable, also because the correct orthography of the latter would have been ⲏⲥⲁⲩ. On the edge of the same rock there is another cross. There are surely letters to be discerned, but in a different orientation than the cross that either ends or begins at the crack of the rock. Depending on the orientation, the letter discerned on its vertical antenna could be a ⲙ or a ⲱ. There are more carvings on the rock, but their nature is hard to discern from the available photos.

Fig. 4:

Site 40, boulder 4 with inscription and cross (feature 40-6) (photo W.A.D.I.).

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Site 42 (X: 386010,451602, Y: 2039008,679978) This is a single rock site, situated directly at the khor, and at a distance of ca. 1.2 km to the west-southwest from the monastery of Ghazali. It consists of several Christian motifs, like a church, crosses, an equestrian figure, and a camel or donkey (?).13 The only epigraphic evidence is a Christogram that perhaps surmounts one of the crosses (see Fig. 5).

Fig. 5:

Site 42 with different motives (photo W.A.D.I.).

Site 50 (X: 387144,470475, Y: 2039211,912839) This rock formation is the graffiti site closest to the monastery of Ghazali (just 160 m south from the southernmost edge of the enclosure wall). There are two boulders in an orthogonal position to each other with at least one textual graffito on each: On the vertical rock, there is a cross inside a rhomboidal ‘aura’. Below and left of this ‘aura’, a single word has been pecked (see Fig. 6). It reads: ⲇⲓⲁ ̀ⲕ ́ Deacon 13

See Karberg 2009: 137–138.

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Inscriptions in Greek Script on Rock Outcrops

Fig. 6:

Site 50, single word (photo W.A.D.I.).

Fig. 7:

Site 50, two letters (photo W.A.D.I.).

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A similar carving has been noted in the Fourth Cataract region.14 The role of the deacons in Christian Nubia is worth further analysis.15 Suffice it to note here that the deacons might have been the most active scribes among the members of the Makuritan hierarchy. On the top surface of the horizontal rock, two (?) letters can be seen that seem to read: ⲕⲩ̄̄̄ (ⲕⲩⲣⲓⲟⲩ = “of the Lord”). However, the reading is very uncertain (see Fig. 7).

Concluding Remarks The epigraphic evidence assembled during the Wadi Abu Dom survey, although of very small number, adds to the overall picture of the tradition of graffiti making among the Nubians. The presence of camels and crosses in at least half of the recorded sites underlines the importance of the medieval era in the practice of graffiti-making in the landscape of the Wadi Abu Dom. Moreover, it should be stressed that to the exception of a modern Arabic graffito, the only inscriptions registered by the W.A.D.I. project are those presented here, all of medieval dating and Christian character. The Christian character of these graffiti is corroborated by the mention of the ecclesiastical office of the deacon at the site nearest to the monastery at Ghazali. Finally, the overall distribution of rock art registered by the W.A.D.I. project shows a clear accumulation of medieval graffiti around the monastery of Ghazali. These observations illustrate the importance of the presence of the monks in the region for the development of rock art practices. Therefore, there should be no doubt that the three graffiti sites discussed in this article are related to the presence of the monastic community at Ghazali. The archaeological work at this site has produced one of the largest corpora of epigraphic material from the Makuritan kingdom and this corpus is being enriched the last years by the work of Artur Obłuski and Grzegorz Ochała. A clear trait of the textual record from Ghazali is the insistence on the use of the Coptic language, which has been tentatively linked with the monastic character of the site. Therefore, the plausible reading of a Coptic prepositional phrase (i.e. ⲉⲣⲟⲛ) in the inscription on Boulder 1 is of particular importance for the identification of the persons active epigraphically at the sites examined. Moreover, the phrase ⲉⲣⲟⲛ, meaning “to(wards)/against us”, is directly related with the cryptogrammatic rendering of the name “Michael” on the same rock. The reference to Michael occurs often in such environments, and surely the best example is Jebel Maktoub in the immediate hinterland of Qasr Ibrim.16 Even if the repetition of the name “Michael” is not a particularity of the Christian practices observed at Ghazali, it is worth mentioning that it appears in the textual record from the monastery in all its forms: as a theonym, an anthroponym, a monogram, and a cryptogram. Nevertheless, it remains a mystery why the Makuritans should carve the name of the Archangel, as well as that of Iael, in this specific spot. Did they move out there to perform a ritual? What made the sites related to the archangels? Some unfriendly apparition from 14 15 16

Tsakos 2007: 239, no. 18. It has been briefly commented on in Deptula 2015: 131–132. Łajtar & Van der Vliet 2013: 157–166.

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which they needed their protection? Some improper behavior that needed to be apotropaically neutralized by the invocation of their powers through the writing of their names? Or simply an act of religious celebration? Let us venture into a couple plausible replies, which will have to be tested in further studies: – The inscription on Boulder 2 might indicate that some musical performance stood behind the choice of the site for the epigraphic act. The proximity of rock gongs is the strongest argument. – The localities themselves might be linked with the marking of the boundaries of the periphery of the monastery. For example, Site 40 occupies the northern end of a ridge directly to the south of a path, and at exactly the point where this path crosses between two ridges, the northern one also hosts rock art of the medieval era (Site 43), but no inscriptions.17 In both cases, those persons active in these localities felt that the invocation of the archangels could provide them with the sort of protection or blessing they needed.

Bibliography Deptula, A. 2015 Inscriptions from Saint Menas’ Church in Selib. In: Łajtar, A., Ochała, G. & Van der Vliet, J. (eds.), Nubian Voices II: New Texts and Studies on Christian Nubian Culture. Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplement 27. Warsaw 2015, 131–132. Hagen, J. 2012 No longer “Slavonic” only. 2 Enoch attested in Coptic from Nubia. In: Orlov, A. A. & Boccaccini, G. (eds.), New Perspectives on 2 Enoch. Leiden 2012, 7–34. Karberg, T. 2009 Die Felskunst im Unteren Wadi Abu Dom. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 20, 131–140. Kleinitz, C. & Olsson, C. 2005 Christian Period Rock Art Landscapes in the Fourth Nile Cataract Region. The Dar el-Arab and et-Tereif Rock Art Surveys. In: Sudan & Nubia 9, 31–38. Łajtar, A. & Van der Vliet, J. 2013 A View from a Hill. A First Presentation of the Rock Graffiti of “Gebel Maktoub”. In: Van der Vliet, J. & Hagen, J. (eds.), Qasr Ibrim. Between Egypt and Africa. Leuven 2013, 157–166.

17

It is worth noting that the path is being used until today by locals who move their goatherds between camps in the desert and the more fertile soils of the wadi (Tim Karberg, personal communication).

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Meyer, M. & Smith, R. (eds.) 1999 Ancient Christian Magic. Coptic Texts of Ritual Power. Princeton. Obłuski, A., 2014 Ghazali Site Presentation Project 2012–2014. Preliminary results. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 197–204. Obłuski, A. & Ochała, G. 2016 La redécouverte d’un monastère nubien. Premiers résultats des fouilles polonaises à Ouadi elGhazali. In: Boud’hors, A. & Louis, C. (eds.), Études coptes XIV. Seizième journée d’études. Genève, 19–21 juin 2013. Cahiers de la bibliothèque copte 21. Paris, 61–77. Shinnie, P. L. & Chittick, H. N. 1961 Ghazali. A Monastery in the Northern Sudan. Sudan Antiquities Service Occasional Papers 5. Khartoum. Tsakos, A. 2007 On the Medieval Inscriptional Material from M.D.A.S.P. In: Näser, C. & Lange, M. (eds.), Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract, Berlin, August 4th – 6th, 2005. Meroitica 23, 235–246.

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Fortified Sites? Monumental Buildings in the Wadi Abu Dom Dieter Eigner

Abstract Since their discovery, the ancient monumental stone structures in the Wadi Abu Dom have been interpreted as forts or at least fortified places. This was mainly due to the deficient plan-sketches published by H. N. Chittick. The W.A.D.I. team had the possibility to study these structures and to create a new architectural documentation. On this basis new ideas about the function of the monuments can be developed, although they will need proof through proper archaeological excavation. On grounds of the topographical situation and the lack of adequate architectural features a function as ‘forts’, ‘hydreumata’ or ‘caravanserais’can be excluded. The ‘pseudo-military’architecture of Umm Ruweim 1 and Quweib can be interpreted as an expression of power and wealth of a local leader. Both monuments are radiocarbondated to the Late-Meroitic – early Post-Meroitic period. The enclosures of Umm Ruweim 2 and Umm Khafour may have been settlement places and storage spaces. With reference to the modern topography one may assume two neighbouring chiefdoms: El-Rum with the residence Umm Ruweim 1 and the settlement Umm Ruweim 2, and El-Beida with the residence Quweib and the settlement Umm Khafour. If we imagine only one chiefdom, Quweib would fulfil the role of a storage space. Keywords: Wadi Abu Dom, Fortification, Architecture, Settlement, Storage Space

Fig. 1:

Position of ancient ruins documented by the W.A.D.I. project in the Wadi Abu Dom and its vicinity (map D. Eigner).

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Introduction It is a long-standing tradition in Nubian studies to identify the ancient buildings of Wadi Abu Dom as “fortified sites”, “forts”, even “fortresses”, or as “military installations”.1 Even very recent publications rank the sites of Umm Ruweim 1 and Quweib as “fortified sites”.2 Derek Welsby takes an ambiguous position: Welsby (1994: Fig. 15 on p. 48) includes the buildings Umm Ruweim 1 and Umm Ruweim 2 into the category “military installations”. Concerning the building of Quweib he states (Welsby 1994: 50): “Umm Kuweib in particular is unlikely to be a military installation, as it lies very close to high ground from which it could have been dominated“. But, indeed, this is also true for the three other installations, especially Umm Ruweim 1 and Umm Khafour. Against his own earlier argumentation concerning Quweib, he later states (Welsby 2002: 131): “In the Wadi Abu Dom are four sites which might be classed as forts”. This refers to the sites of Umm Ruweim 1, Umm Ruweim 2, Quweib and Umm Khafour. The reason for misinterpreting these monuments lies mainly in their (formerly) insufficient documentation. Scholars seem to have rarely visited the sites themselves, but have relied for their studies on the very rough and incomplete sketches done by Chittick based on air photographs.3 In any case, Chittick admits: “The original function of these three sites [...] is obscure”.4 The team of the W.A.D.I.5 survey project was able to do extensive in situ studies of the architectural monuments in WadiAbu Dom (Fig. 1). In places where it appeared to be necessary, the investigations also included removal of surface sand and/or some sounding trenches. The result of operations were plans and section drawings of the monuments, recording their current state before proper excavations. Already on the basis of this documentation, some ideas about the meaning and function of the monuments can be developed. Three building types can be discerned: a) solitary structures built of dry stone masonry, with very limited use of mud-brick, and of similar construction and architectural design (Umm Ruweim 1, Quweib, Khor Shingawi). b) settlement areas within enclosures of a square ground plan (Umm Ruweim 2, Umm Khafour), accompanied by Christian cemeteries of ‘box-graves’. c) structures built of stone masonry set in mortar, combined with mud-brick masonry (El-Tuweina, Umm Ruweim 3).

The Structure Umm Ruweim 1 Umm Ruweim 1 (Fig. 2), radiocarbon dated to the Late Meroitic – early Post-Meroitic period, is the most complex structure of the first group of buildings mentioned above.6 Two rings of elongated rooms enclose a central building of apparent domestic character. It would be wrong 1 2 3 4 5 6

As is stated and refuted by Lohwasser 2009: 13. Drzewiecki 2013: 146. Chittick 1955: Figs. 2–4. Chittick 1955: 90. Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary, under the direction of Angelika Lohwasser, University of Münster. For detailed description and plans see Eigner & Karberg 2011.

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to call these rings “double walls” or to regard them as one thick wall.7 There are also no “rooms built against the outer wall”.8 The “outer walls” are not distinguished by their strength, since all walls in the monument measure between 80 cm and 105 cm in thickness. Both walls of each ring are equal in their function in enclosing an inner space. The northern and western sides of the inner walls of the outer ring had originally many large openings, thus almost creating the impression of a portico. Approximately in the centre of each side of the outer rectangle, there is a small gateway chamber protruding from the front, providing a link between the inner and outer worlds. Three of the gates are of the “bent axis” type described by Welsby.9 The main gate is the one in the east, with a straight entrance from the east leading to a couloir á chicane. There is no evidence that these gateway chambers were a basis for “towers”.10

Fig. 2: 7 8 9 10

Plan of Umm Ruweim 1 in the Wadi Abu Dom (plan D. Eigner).

Żurawski 2013: 136; Chittick 1955: 89. Welsby 2002: 131; Welsby 1996: 49; Lenoble 2004: 133. Welsby 1996: 47. Welsby 1996: 47–49, and Welsby 2002: 131, calls these gateway rooms “towers” and is not sure about their function as gates.

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The bent axis of entrance gateways is not necessarily a military feature, but very often is also used as a means to secure privacy in domestic buildings. The number of four gates for such a relatively small compound (about 61 x 73 m) appears opposed to military logic and has its reason in a concept of an architectural design which aligns to all four cardinal directions. Furthermore, all basic fortification features are missing: high and massive curtain walls, bastions, towers and fortified gates, while the walls of only 80 to 105 cm thickness offer only little protection. Most rooms of the inner ring were filled with gravel and sand in a later building stage, which could be interpreted as an effort to create a massive wall. The many staircases and ramps, situated in corners of the complex, appear to be at first glance the sole feature which could be interpreted as a fortificatory element, but other functions (like ideological or ritual ones) also seem possible. They seem to lead up to the roof, but they end on platforms only about 1.80 m above ground level, well below the supposed roof level. The central building of the complex consists of three elongated rooms, grouped around a small courtyard with a small platform (maybe an altar?), which is placed with some accurateness in the geometric centre of the whole complex. The function of the central building remains unclear. A possible explanation would be a domestic room structure (the “central apartment” of the building complex), but other interpretations are also possible.11 The overall design concept could be an image of the basic shape of the Roman castrum, at least in respect to its outward appearance. However, the four cardinal points also play an important role in rituals of Meroitic kingship. The eastern gate is obviously the main entrance, and its central axis continues through the gate of the second ring pointing rather exactly towards the abovementioned platform.

The Structure Quweib After some linguistic investigations, the W.A.D.I. team decided to use the name “Quweib” instead of the formerly used “Umm Kuweib”.12 The structure named Quweib (Fig. 3) is built in the same construction manner as the building Umm Ruweim 1 and its architecture follows the conception of the latter in principle. The two structures could therefore be considered as contemporaneous. Quweib could be called a simplified version of Umm Ruweim 1 with almost the same size (50 x 77 m vs. 61 x 73 m). Just one ring of elongated rooms, which are a bit wider than at Umm Ruweim 1 (2.80–3.20 m vs. 2.00–3.00 m) encloses a spacious courtyard.13 The walls are also a bit thicker than at Umm Ruweim 1 (1.10–1.40 m vs. 0.80–1.05 m). The only entrance is approximately in the centre of the eastern front of the complex, as is the main entrance of Umm Ruweim 1. It is not a “simple opening”, as Welsby states.14 There is a gateway room set in front of the facade, with a central entrance followed by a second door leading into an axial passage. There is no bent axis or couloir á chicane. The vast courtyard 11 12

Cf. Karberg & Lohwasser in this volume, paragraph 6.3.4.1. T. Karberg in Eigner & Karberg 2012: 48. Negro et al. 2006: 416, never met the name Umm Kuweib and call the site “Al Badia”. For detailed description and plans of the structure see Eigner & Karberg 2012. 13 Again the misunderstanding of “double walls” occurs in literature: Negro et al. 2006: 416, and Żurawski 2013: 136. 14 Welsby 1996: 49, and Welsby 2002: 131.

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Monumental Buildings in the Wadi Abu Dom

Fig. 3:

187

Kite photo of Quweib in the Wadi Abu Dom (photo B. Żurawski). A geophysical survey in the court brought no results.

is void of any installations, as was proved by ground-penetrating radar investigations. An ‘apartment’ of two rooms (rooms 9s and 9n) in the western chain of rooms could perhaps be considered as the counterpart of the ‘central apartment’ in Umm Ruweim 1. Next to the door of room 9s, there is the only platform within the complex, measuring about 3 x 3 m, rising about 1 m above courtyard level. No stairs or ramps provide access to roof level. The layout of rooms is very regular and symmetrical, a quality which is not met in Umm Ruweim 1 to this extent. The outside walls are abundantly provided with small ‘windows’ (about 20 x 20 cm) to provide light and ventilation for the rooms.15 It is a curious fact that these openings in the inner walls were only above head level. In an archaeological sounding, the W.A.D.I. team found remains of a two-layered wall plastering of mud. It should therefore be kept in mind that all buildings of this group (Umm Ruweim, Quweib, Khor Shingawi) were mud-plastered in their heyday and thus had a much different appearance than today. The topographic situation of Quweib clearly shows that the building was never meant to be a fortress. The foot of a neighbouring hill is just 15 m away from the entrance gate. The situation at Umm Ruweim 1 is similar, where a hill rises at about 50 m distance to the western side of the building. From these vantage points control over the “fortresses” could have been easily gained.16

15 16

Lenoble has found for them the appropriate term “lucarne”. This was also noted by other authors: Welsby 1996: 50; Welsby 2002: 131; Lohwasser 2009: 113.

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An Ancient Building in Khor Shingawi The ancient structure in Khor Shingawi (Fig. 4) is a ‘solitary’ building in every sense of the word. From a point in the Nile valley about 15 km north of Nuri, a modern track turns east into the northern Bayuda desert and passes by the ruin after a distance of about 15 km. From Umm Ruweim, the distance is about 23 km in north-eastern direction (cf. Fig. 1).17 The structure lies very close to the modern track through the central northern Bayuda, which via Sani finally leads to Berber. We may well assume that this route existed in antiquity already and that its destination probably was Dangeil. It is therefore not an offhand idea that the building might have served as a control point and housed a small garrison, but architectural evidence indicates otherwise. The building constructions of Khor Shingawi, Umm Ruweim 1 and Quweib resemble each other in every detail, including mud-plastering. ‘Windows’ are also present and of same construction. In Khor Shingawi, however, we also find two windows of the extravagant size of 40 x 40 cm. ‘Umm Ruweim elements’ in the ground plan are elongated rooms and a courtyard with two ramps leading up to platforms. All these features permit to put the Khor Shingawi ruin into the same category as the Wadi Abu Dom buildings. Radiocarbon-dating provides excellent proof of a correspondence in date: lower occupation layer – Late Meroitic, upper occupation layer – early Post-Meroitic. According to the position of the building, one would expect it to be of military function. But surprisingly, the plan shows a definite domestic character with several housing units or ‘apartments’. The most prominent unit is the western part of the complex (rooms 17-22 in Fig. 4), forming a compact rectangular block with thicker walls (105 cm) than the rest with

Fig. 4: 17

Plan of the ancient ruin in Khor Shingawi (plan D. Eigner).

For detailed description and plans of the ruin see Eigner & Karberg 2014.

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walls of 60 to 80 cm thickness. This block of rooms is also equipped with the large-size windows mentioned above. Smaller habitation units are formed by rooms 2-3-4, rooms 5-6-7-8, and rooms 9-10 (storage?). Patrice Lenoble does not hesitate to call the building a “résidence”.18 As in the buildings of Wadi Abu Dom, there is a lack of fortification elements. Moreover, the building without any elevated floors is situated in the centre of a plain.19 Rocky hills of some height are at a distance of at least 400 m in every direction. The building is comparatively small, about 43 x 13.5 m, and would not provide much space for a military unit. The only installations of ‘military’ character are the two platforms (nos. 13 and 15 in Fig. 4), which are reached from the courtyard by ramps 14 and 16. From these platforms, a good view of the surrounding plane was provided. This, and the location of the building close to a modern track could indicate a general function of the structure connected with traffic. Nevertheless, the results of the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project revealed that the reconstruction of antique traffic routes from modern tracks is highly problematic.20 The rather complex layout of the building also allows other functional interpretations.21 Water supply for the inhabitants is still an open question; an ancient well or water harvesting installation should have existed nearby.

The Enclosure Umm Ruweim 2 At a distance of only about 500 m east of the ruin Umm Ruweim 1 lie the remains of an enclosure of square plan, named by Chittick “Umm Ruweim 2” (Fig. 5).22 Its walls of dry stone masonry are preserved up to a height of about 80 cm, they enclose an area of about 66 x 66 m. The amount of debris allows to reconstruct an original height of about 1.50 m for the stone walls, which are about 100 cm thick. It can be assumed that the stonework was topped by a construction of mud-brick or galūs to reach more height. Two small mounds mark the position of an eastern and a western entrance gate. The western gate is of the type described by Welsby with a bent access axis.23 Both Chittick and Welsby did not take notice of the eastern gate. It is directly facing East and offers straight access through a gateway chamber. Investigation by ground-penetrating radar revealed a square structure, most probably of mud-brick, in a concentric arrangement to the outer enclosure (Fig. 5) in the inner courtyard. Two rather large circular buildings with an inner diameter of about 4.40 m are positioned near the centre of the complex. Their arrangement follows the usual pattern of paired silos with a small silo segment connecting them. Anyhow, the functional interpretation must stay doubtful until invasive investigations are carried out at this spot.24 The rooms of elongated plan (about 3.00–3.20 m wide, about 14.00 and 17.00 m long) show the same characteristics as the rooms of Umm Ruweim 1. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Lenoble 2004: 133. Welsby 2002: 164 states that the building is set on a podium approx. 1 m high. This error is due to the fill of the rooms with debris and windblown sand, while the fill of the courtyard remains at a lower level. Cf. Karberg & Lohwasser in this volume, paragraph 6.6. Cf. Karberg & Lohwasser in this volume, paragraph 6.3.4.1. For detailed description and plans of the structure see Eigner & Karberg 2012. Welsby 1996: 47, 49. For the discussion of the function of this structure cf. also the Karberg & Lohwasser in this volume, paragraph 6.3.4.1.

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The concentric arrangement of buildings and their enclosure is very similar to the layout of Umm Ruweim 1 and reflects the engagement of a ruling power in planning. Although there is still no secure date for Umm Ruweim 2, a close relationship to Umm Ruweim 1 seems apparent. Tentatively, the structure could be identified as a site for storage and settlement. As already stated above, Welsby classifies the enclosure as “military installation” and “defended enclosure”.25 The comparatively thin and low walls cannot be classified as ‘fortification’. Of course, they have some protective function, but more so a symbolic character. This is clearly expressed by the design of the two gateways: the eastern gate has a straight axis of access, while the western gate has a bent axis (chicane). There can hardly be a military reason for this difference in design. The enclosure wall can be read as an expression of marking the space and settlement as part of the realm of a local ruler.

Fig. 5:

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Plan of the ancient settlement site Umm Ruweim 2 in the Wadi Abu Dom. The plan of buildings inside the enclosure is the result of geophysical prospection (plan D. Eigner).

Welsby 1996: Fig. 15, and Welsby 2002: 131, 195 and Fig. 46.

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The Enclosure Umm Khafour At a distance of approximately 2.5 km southwest of the structure Quweib, at the mouth of a khor coming from the south to the Wadi Abu Dom, lie the remains of an ancient enclosure, called “Umm Khafour” by local people (Fig. 6).26 The structure appears to be an exact replica of the Umm Ruweim 2 enclosure; also the state of deterioration is about the same for both monuments. Umm Khafour is a bit smaller, the enclosure measures about 57 x 58 m (vs. 66 x 66 m). On the other hand, the walls of Umm Khafour are a bit thicker, 1.05–1.20 m vs. 1.00 m. The wall debris is completely hidden under windblown sand, but it may be assumed that the stone wall did reach a height not much above 1.50 m and was topped by a mud construction. In general it appears that the masonry at Umm Khafour was more carefully carried out than at Umm Ruweim 2.

Fig. 6:

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Plan of the ancient settlement site Umm Khafour in the Wadi Abu Dom. The plan of buildings inside the enclosure is the result of geophysical prospection (plan D. Eigner).

For detailed description and plans of the structure see Eigner & Karberg 2012.

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The two enclosure gates are of the same type and in the same position as at Umm Ruweim 2. There is a small difference at the eastern gate: the gate chamber of Umm Khafour is attached to the outer face of the enclosure wall, while at Umm Ruweim 2 it is inserted into the wall (cf. Figs. 5 & 6). The main characteristic for all eastern gates (Umm Ruweim 1, Umm Ruweim 2, Quweib, Umm Khafour) is that the entrances always face straight east and the gate chambers are passed through in a straight axis. Only at Umm Ruweim 1 a couloir á chicane is added after the gate chamber. The eastern gate has definitely to be considered as the main gate in all these monuments, their plan is based on one common design idea. The investigation by ground-penetrating radar at Umm Khafour showed similar results like at Umm Ruweim 2 (but less clearly). Still, a central building block of square ground plan, surrounded by a wide open space like at Umm Ruweim 2, can be construed from the traces (cf. Figs. 5 & 6). At the moment there is no clue for the function of these buildings, they could be storerooms or habitations. The wide ring of open space between the enclosure wall and the inner building may have served for human dwellings of vegetable material, shelters for animals, or any craft purposes. At Umm Ruweim 2, a cemetery of box graves lies near to the south wall of the enclosure. Stone material for the construction of the tombs was taken from this wall. At Umm Khafour, material from the western wall of the enclosure was used for the north cemetery, while material for the south cemetery was procured at the slope of a nearby hill. There is still no established date for the two enclosures, but their relation to Umm Ruweim 1 and to Quweib appears to be evident. Christian occupation should have been a secondary one.

El-Tuweina – A New Site of Buildings The buildings of El-Tuweina belong to another sphere than the structures described before, both historically and geographically, and maybe also functionally. The site is situated about 80 km upstream of Umm Ruweim, in a southern side valley of Wadi Abu Dom, at a distance of only about 2 km from the main wadi (Fig. 1). Bir Merwa, the place where the Wadi Abu Dom and the new Atbara asphalt road are almost touching each other, is very close. The ruins at the site comprise the remains of at least three different objects (Fig. 7).27 For all three of them the same manner of construction was used: rough stone masonry of gneiss slabs with mud mortar as a bonding agent, plus abundant use of mud-bricks. For the other buildings in Wadi Abu Dom as described above the standard construction is dry stone masonry. For both types of walls, a coat of mud plaster is usual. The walls in El-Tuweina are 40 cm (partition walls) to 60 cm (perimeter walls) thick. Object 1 is an enclosure with small rooms attached to the inside of the perimeter wall and some small freestanding structures in the enclosed space. This arrangement is reminiscent of Hosh el-Kafir near El-Hobagi,28 although on a much smaller scale (about 33 x 33 m vs. 100 x 110 m). Additionally, some remains of stone walls were also documented immediately outside the wall, but their function as well as their connection to the main perimeter wall still remains unclear. 27 28

For detailed description and plans of the ruins see Eigner & Karberg 2013. Lenoble 2006: 116–118.

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Plan of the ancient ruins of El-Tuweina in the vicinity of the Wadi Abu Dom (plan D. Eigner).

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Fig. 8:

Kite photo of the ancient ruin Umm Ruweim 1 in the Wadi Abu Dom (photo H. Paner).

Object 2 is attached to the perimeter wall of object 1 and seems to be a small domestic structure. A building containing three rooms with elongated ground plans (12.25 x 2.00 m) is the main part of object 3. The walls are partly preserved up to a height of 1.80 m and show openings or windows only at their small sides. Their layout resembles some elongated storage facilities, but the archaeological record within the rooms might indicate other functions.29 Radiocarbon dating indicates a Late-Meroitic period date for all three objects. Umm Ruweim 3 is a fragment of a structure with some characteristics of object 3 of El-Tuweina. Near Bir Merwa, there is a crossroads where a north-south track coming from Sani in the central North Bayuda meets the track of Wadi Abu Dom, respectively the Atbara asphalt road.30 Assumed that these routes already existed in antiquity,31 the buildings of El-Tuweina could have had a function connected to traffic.32

Conclusion In his first archaeological description of the ancient ruins in lower Wadi Abu Dom, H. N. Chittik states: “The original function of these three sites is [...] obscure.” (Chittik 1955: 90). Almost half a century later D. Welsby can only write: “The function of these structures is unclear.” (Welsby 2002: 131). 29 30 31 32

Cf. Karberg & Lohwasser in this volume, paragraph 6.3.4.1. According to Lohwasser & Karberg 2012: 45. However, as already stated above, the reconstruction of ancient traffic patterns based on modern routes proved to be highly problematic; cf. Karberg & Lohwasser in this volume, paragraph 6.6. For the functional interpretation of the building of El-Tuweina, cf. also Karberg & Lohwasser in this volume, paragraph 6.3.4.1.

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Investigations and documentation efforts undertaken by the W.A.D.I. team are a first step to answer open questions. However, proper archaeological excavation in selected locations will be necessary. Chittick gave up his first idea of “caravanserai” very soon, mainly due to the short distance between Umm Ruweim and Quweib.33 But even the distance between Napata/Sanam and Umm Ruweim of 22 km is much shorter than a ‘normal’ day’s journey of 25 Roman miles (which equal 37 km). Chittick mentions the striking resemblance of the “enclosures provided with rooms” to Roman watering stations (hydreumata) in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.34 But he does not imply such a function for the buildings of the Wadi Abu Dom. For “al-Badia” (= Quweib) and Umm Ruweim 1, a function as hydreuma and caravanserai is taken for granted by Negro et al.35 But water is easily available in the Wadi Abu Dom itself, a hydreuma on high ground would not make much sense, and, moreover, hydreumata are usually fortified places.36 The topographic situation in close vicinity of hills basically forbids a function as ‘fort’ or ‘fortress’ for Umm Ruweim1 and for Quweib.37 Furthermore, there is an absence of any effective fortificatory elements in these monuments. The enclosure walls of Umm Ruweim 2 and Umm Khafour are much too small in their dimensions to be of effective defensive power.38 At best, the Wadi Abu Dom buildings could be called ‘slightly fortified sites’. For Umm Ruweim 1, it could be proposed that it was the abode of a local ruler, whose authority and power was symbolised by quasi-military architecture through an image of a Roman castrum.39 The rings of rooms could in fact be considered to be meant as an image of massive fortress walls. Quweib may have also been a chieftain’s residence, though Tim Karberg prefers to assume a storage function to it.40 The two enclosures Umm Ruweim 2 and Umm Khafour could have had a storage function, at least if the round construction in the centre of Umm Ruweim 2 is interpreted as a pair of large silos. In this case, these structures could be connected to a population of agriculturists. Another opinion is that the square enclosures were the home of a local élite.41 In view of the modern topography it appears possible that two neighbouring chiefdoms existed in antiquity in the lower Wadi Abu Dom: El-Rum with residence Ruweim 1 and settlement Ruweim 2, and El-Beida with residence Quweib and settlement Umm Khafour. This is a scenario which still has to be (dis)proved by future research.

Bibliography Chittick, H. N. 1955 An Exploratory Journey in the Bayuda Region. In: Kush 3, 87–92. 33 34 35 36 37 38

Chittick 1955: 89. Chittick 1955: 90. This is also mentioned by Żurawski 2013: 136. Negro et al. 2006: 416–417. Eigner & Karberg 2011. Lohwasser 2009: 113; Eigner & Karberg 2011: 92; Welsby 1994: 50. Welsby 1996: Fig. 15 demonstrates this in an impressive way, showing plans of Umm Ruweim 2 and of the fort of Fura Wells side by side. 39 Cf. Żurawski 2013: 134. Nubian fortresses of the Middle Ages are considered by the author to be mostly symbolic. 40 Eigner & Karberg 2012: 59. 41 Eigner & Karberg 2012: 59.

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Drzewiecki, M. 2013 Fortifications and the Post-Meroitic Period in Upper Nubia: Some Thoughts. In: Jesse, F. & Vogel, C. (eds.), The Power of Walls – Fortifications in Ancient Northeastern Africa. Proceedings of the International Workshop held at the University of Cologne 4th – 7th August 2011. Heinrich-Barth-Institut, Köln 2013, 145–160. Eigner, D. & Karberg, T. 2011 W.A.D.I. 2011: Die Bauaufnahme der Ruine Umm Ruweim 1. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 69–84. 2012 W.A.D.I. 2012 – Die Großbauten Umm Ruweim 2, Quweib und Umm Khafour im unteren Wadi Abu Dom. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 23, 47–60. 2013 W.A.D.I. 2013 – Die Bauaufnahme der Ruinen von El Tuweina. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 24, 51–58. 2014 W.A.D.I. 2014 – Die Ruine eines antiken Bauwerkes im Khor Shingawi. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 189–196. Lenoble, P. 2006 Un habitat sahélien préchrétien: le Hosh el-Kafir à el-Hobagi (Soudan central), A.M.S. NE36-O/7-O-6. In: CRIPEL 24, 115–141. Lohwasser, A. 2009 Ein archäologischer Survey an der Mündung des Wadi Abu Dom, Bayuda. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 20, 101–115. Lohwasser, A. & Karberg, T. 2012 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2012. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 23, 35–46. Negro, G., Castiglioni, A. & Castiglioni, A. 2006 An archaeological exploration of the Bayuda Desert. In: Caneva, I. & Roccati, A. (eds.), Acta Nubica. Proceedings of the X. International Conference of Nubian Studies, Rome 9–14 September 2002. Rome 2006, 411–417. Welsby, D. 1996 The Kingdom of Kush. The Napatan and Meroitic Empires. London. 2002 The Medieval Kingdoms of Nubia. Pagans, Christians and Muslims along the Middle Nile. London. Żurawski, B. 2013 Strongholds on the Middle Nile: Nubian Fortifications of the Middle Ages. In: In: Jesse, F. & Vogel, C. (eds.), The Power of Walls – Fortifications in Ancient Northeastern Africa. Proceedings of the International Workshop held at the University of Cologne 4th – 7th August 2011. HeinrichBarth-Institut, Köln 2013, 113–143.

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From the Late Meroitic to the Makurian Period: First Results of Excavations at Cemetery Sites in the Wadi Abu Dom Jana Eger & Elżbieta Kołosowska

Abstract In 2015, excavations were carried out at two cemeteries near Bir Merwa in the Wadi Abu Dom. According to the sub- and superstructures and the find material, some tumuli graves are to be dated contemporary to the Late Meroitic period. The location of these tumuli near Bir Merwa might correspond to the nearby large building of El-Tuweina, which presumably dates to a similar age. Other graves at the same cemeteries can be dated to the Medieval period. Some of them are of the characteristic ‘box grave’ type, but there are also two smaller tumuli clearly dating to this time, indicating that this grave type survived for some time in the remote areas of the Wadi Abu Dom. All tumulus graves were looted. However, the (disturbed) remains of the buried individuals as well as some grave good like ceramics, beads and metal objects reveal some insights into the material culture of the Wadi Abu Dom. Keywords: Wadi Abu Dom, Funerary Culture, Tumuli, Box Graves, Beads, Arrowheads

The main aim behind investigating the cemeteries in the Wadi Abu Dom was to contribute to the reconstruction of diachronic settlement patterns within the wadi. To that end, several necropoleis containing a variety of burial structures of different periods were chosen for excavation. Comparing burial practices, the structures, and the physical remains of those buried we wanted to find out about shifts and continuities of the local population through time, to recognize transitional phases between the main cultural periods, and to highlight cultural gaps, should they have existed. In general, the excavations in the vicinity of Bir Merwa are the first large-scale investigations of funerary structures within the Wadi Abu Dom. In 1844, the Prussian expedition led by Carl Richard Lepsius investigated some box graves around the monastery of Ghazali.1 More cemeteries further up the wadi as far as the bend of Umm Beida were cartographed in 1954 by Neville H. Chittick and Peter Shinnie.2 In the 1990s, trainees of the National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums excavated a single tumulus in collaboration with Patrice Lenoble near Umm Ruweim, mainly for training purposes. Since the tumulus turned out to have been already looted, this excavation yielded only few material results.3 With our excavation and analysis of some cemeteries in the Wadi Abu Dom, this research gap is beginning to be closed. 1 2 3

Shinnie & Chittick 1961: 8. Chittick 1955. El-Nur & Bandi 1994.

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Late to Post-Meroitic Period By Elżbieta Kołosowska

The first excavations undertaken as part of the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) project were carried out in 2015. Fieldwork was conducted at several cemeteries in the neighborhood of the Bir Merwa dam built in 2013, that crosses the main course of the Wadi Abu Dom middle section. The excavations were of a rescue nature because the graves lie in the immediate vicinity of the dam and its reservoir, which pose a potential and unpredictable threat to the future of these archaeological remains. During earlier survey work, three of the sites selected for excavation – 5362, 6364, and 5500 (Fig. 1) – had been dated to the Post-Meroitic and Christian periods, based on an analysis of the superstructures: tumuli and box-grave types (Figs. 2 & 3). Excavations resulted in a revision of the chronology of these sites to also include the Late Meroitic period.

Late Meroitic Graves of Type I Examples of the first type of Late Meroitic graves were discovered at neighboring sites 5362 and 5364, located on the right bank of the Wadi Abu Dom, above the dam on the floodplain terrace (Fig. 4).

Fig. 1:

Map of the region (map J. Eger).

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Fig. 2:

Cemetery site 5364 before excavation (photo E. Kołosowska).

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Figs. 3a–b:

Fig. 4:

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Cemetery site 5500 before excavation (photos E. Kołosowska).

Map of cemetery sites 5362 and 5364 including the cairns of site 5363 (map J. Eger).

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In antiquity, these sites were separated only by an elongated inselberg cutting across the floodplain terrace, surmounted by several small cairns (designated as site 5363). The graves recorded had probably been part of one extensive cemetery. A few low, circular mounds, a medium-sized tumulus, and several partially demolished box-graves were recorded at site 5364, while approximately 830 m to the northwest, at site 5362, only three closely spaced structures were registered (a small, low tumulus and two features made of stones, both oval in plan). Four of these features, two at each site, were created during the Late Meroitic period. Superstructure Three graves appeared on the surface as low, barely distinguishable mounds, circular in plan (diameter 3.0–4.6 m, height 0.2–0.27 m) and delimited by a curb consisting of a single line of medium-sized stones (Figs. 5a–c). Two of these graves, numbers 16 and 17, were at site 5364, to the north and south of a cluster of box-graves, while the third, number 1, was recorded at site 5362 (Fig. 4). The superstructures are similar to FT02a–b constructions, common throughout the Fourth Cataract region,4 and they also share certain similarities with the Late Meroitic and Post-Meroitic FT03a–b and FT05a constructions, characteristic of Sudanese Nubia and Central Sudan,5 where, however, the perimeter curbs are not made up of a single line of stones, but are considerably wider. The superstructure of grave number 3 at site 5362 was a little different. It consisted of a single layer of medium-sized boulders arranged in an oval (1.04 x 1.4 m) (Fig. 5d). It is difficult to determine whether this was an original construction or a result from secondary backfilling after the grave had been robbed. It is likely that there are more Late Meroitic graves at both sites. Since their form is not distinctive it has, however, been impossible to identify them. Substructure The substructure of this type of grave consisted of a circular shaft (diameter 0.9–1.5 m) cut into clay sediments. At the bottom of the shaft, which took the form of a semi-circular sloping step lying at a depth of 0.5–0.6 m below the level of the top of the shaft, a semi-circular or kidney-shaped opening extended from the side of the shaft (Fig. 6). As customary for graves of this type, the step was positioned to the north and the chamber to the south at the bottom of the shaft. The body was placed in the burial chamber, together with some grave goods for the journey into the hereafter. As in all graves of this type, stone slabs closing the entrance to the chamber protected the burial. Graves with similarly constructed substructures have been noted at several other sites in the Fourth Nile Cataract region6 and at the North Cemetery in 4 5 6

Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 18, Fig. 1. Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 18–19, Figs. 1–2. Paner 1998: 131, Fig. 26; El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2005: 65–66, Fig. 23; El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2007: 20–21, Figs. 9–10; Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 21–23, Figs. 8–10; Żurawski 2010: 212–213, Fig. 46.

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Musawwarat es-Sufra, where they are dated to the Post-Meroitic period,7 whereas at Gabati in Central Sudan, they are dated to the Medieval period.8 In light of more recent research, it would seem that the graves in Musawwarat es-Sufra and Gabati have been incorrectly dated. In three of the four excavated graves of this type, additional features were recorded in the substructure. In two cases (graves 5364.16 and 5362.3), they consisted of elongated pits cut into the east wall of the shaft; however, they were considerably shallower than the shaft itself (Figs. 7a–b). These pits could have formed an additional step, to facilitate access to the burial chamber, or some burial equipment may have been deposited in them, as there was not much space in the chamber. In the third grave (5362.1), east of the shaft and approximately 20 cm beside it, there was a very shallow (c. 10 cm deep) and roughly square pit (Fig. 7c), that had probably been used for storing some kind of burial deposit. It proved difficult to find comparable graves with additional side pits. The only one was discovered in the Fourth Cataract region, at a Late Meroitic cemetery in El-Fanab.9 All of the excavated graves of this type have been severely plundered in antiquity.Although no articulated human bones were found, the small size of the side niche suggests that the corpse was contracted and lying on its side. From the comparison of similar graves excavated in the Fourth Cataract region, it can be assumed that the body was placed on its left side, aligned east-west, with the head to the east facing the interior of the burial chamber, the back turned to the shaft.10 Grave Furnishings In three of the four graves explored (5362.1, 5364.16, and 5364.17), a small amount of very poor burial goods was recovered from secondary deposits in fragmentary condition. Due to the damage caused by grave robbers, the composition of the original assemblages is difficult to determine; however, it seems that the burials in this type of grave were not particularly lavishly furnished. Similar burials in the Fourth Cataract region confirm this impression.11 Pottery comprised the main evidence for grave goods recovered.12 Five hand-made vessels could be recognized, but not one was found in its original position. Two undecorated, medium sized bowls – one hemispherical, the other with a round profile and the upper part of the body’s walls inclined inwards – were red slipped, inside and out. Such otherwise undecorated vessels were produced throughout the entire Meroitic period, both in Central Sudan13 and Nubia.14 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Joachim 2014: 208–209, Abb. 44. Edwards 1998: 74–75, Fig. 4.3, T. 12, T. 17. Paner 1998: 131, Fig. 26. El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2005: 65–66, Fig. 23; El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2007: 20–21, Figs. 9–10; Paner 1998: 131, Fig. 26; Żurawski 2010: 213, Fig. 46. El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2005: 65–66, Fig. 23; El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2007: 16, Fig. 5e, 20–21; Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 23–24, Fig. 12. A detailed analysis of the ceramics from this grave is under way and will be published in a forthcoming paper by Jana Helmbold-Doyé. Edwards 1998: 166, 176, Fig. 6.25. Adams 1986: 413, 416, Fig. 246, type C.20, 417, type U.4; El-Tayeb 2012: 87, Fig. 26; Phillips 2003: 402, 407, Pl. 30B.

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Figs. 5a–f: Superstructures of Late Meroitic graves of type I before and after cleaning: tomb 5364.16 (a–c), tomb 5364.17 (d–f) (photos and drawings E. Kołosowska).

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Figs. 5g–l: Superstructures of Late Meroitic graves of type I before and after cleaning: tomb 5362.1 (g–i), tomb 5362.3 (j–l) (photos and drawings E. Kołosowska).

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Figs. 6a–d: Substructures of Late Meroitic graves of type I: tomb 5364.16 (a–b), tomb 5364.17 (c–d) (photos and drawings E. Kołosowska).

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Figs. 6e–h: Substructures of Late Meroitic graves of type I: tomb 5362.1 (e–f), tomb 5362.3 (g–h) (photos and drawings E. Kołosowska).

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a

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c

Figs. 7a–c:.Substructures with additional pits of Late Meroitic graves of type I: tomb 5362.3 (a), tomb 5364.16 (b), and tomb 5362.1 (c) (photos E. Kołosowska). 15 16 17 18 19 20

Two other bowls – one again hemispherical and the other with a round profile and with walls inclined inwards – were decorated, the first with tabby weave textile impressions on the exterior15 and the second with a twining pattern.16 The entire inside and the outer surface around the rim were red-slipped. The shape of both bowls is typical for the Meroitic period.17 But decorations employing twining impressions in a variety of weaving patterns were quite uncommon for this type of vessel; they were used instead from Meroitic times18 mainly for large jars. Twining pattern impressions were also used to decorate the exterior of a beer jar with globular body found in the backfill of the shaft in another grave (grave 5364.16). The vessel’s fairly wide neck was covered with a red slip. Both the form of the vessel and the surface treatment are typical for vessels made between the Late Meroitic and the PostMeroitic period.19 Animal bones were found in addition to the pottery in one of the graves (5362.1). These represented the remains of a carcass deposited with the deceased for the hereafter. The custom of placing an animal cadaver in this type of grave has also been noted in the Fourth Cataract region.20 Remnants of jewellery were found in two graves: blue glazed tubular faience beads in grave 5362.1, and round flat beads made from ostrich eggshell (two beads, one with a 5.5 mm and the other with an 8 mm diameter) in grave 5364.16. For centuries, ornaments incorporating a variety of beads were standard items among grave goods. Several graves of

Phillips 2010: 229–230, Fig. 3. Phillips 2010: 233–234, Fig. 7. Edwards 1998: 166–167, 174, Fig. 6.23, 176, Fig. 6.25; Adams 1986: 413, 416, Fig. 246, group C, 421, 422, Fig. 249, group C. Phillips 2010: 234. Phillips 2003: 400–404, 406, Pl. 23; El-Tayeb 2012: 88–89, Fig. 27; Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 32–33, Figs. 22a–b; Joachim 2014: 198, Figs. 13–14. Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 24.

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Map of site 5500 (map J. Eger).

this type excavated in the Fourth Cataract region also yielded beads made of faience and ostrich eggshell, as well as glass21 and semi-precious stones. In one of the graves (Hagar Sail, site HP 14) two bracelets were found intact – one with beads of ostrich eggshell and the other of long, tubular beads in blue faience.22 On the basis of studies of burial customs and the objects deposited as gifts, this type of grave can be linked with the last stage of the Meroitic period and dated to the 3rd c. AD.23

A Late Meroitic Grave of Type II One grave (tumulus 5500.1) excavated at cemetery site 5500 is also attributable to the Late Meroitic period. The cemetery (with seven tumuli and around 45 box-graves) is located within the wadibed, in the immediate vicinity of its right bank, downstream from the sites mentioned above (5362 and 5364) and slightly below the dam that intersects the wadi (Fig. 8).

21 22 23

Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 23, Fig. 12a; Żurawski 2007: 372–373, Fig. 4. El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2007: 20. Dating after El-Tayeb 2012: 49–52.

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Figs. 9a–d: Superstructure of Late Meroitic grave type II before and after cleaning, site 5500, grave 1 (photos E. Kołosowska; drawing J. Eger & E. Kołosowska).

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Figs. 10a–c: Substructure of Late Meroitic grave type II, site 5500, grave 1 (photos and drawing E. Kołosowska).

Superstructure All of the tumuli at the cemetery were either teardrop- or egg-shaped, with the narrower end always on the east side. The superstructure of grave 1, situated alongside box-graves at the south-western edge of the site, represented a type II grave of the Late Meroitic period. It consisted of a large low mound (measuring 12.7 m N–S, 15.2 m E–W and 0.6 m high) with slightly sloping sides. They have a revetment of carefully arranged, medium-sized stones (Figs. 9a–d). Tumuli of a similar shape, designated as types FT06a and FT06c, have been recorded in the Fourth Cataract region.24 Substructure The substructure appeared to be a variant of the type I Late Meroitic grave noted at sites 5362 and 5364. In contrast to the circular shafts typically found in graves of this period, here the shaft took the highly unusual form of an irregular hexagon (1.3 x 1.4 m) (Figs. 10a–c). 24

Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 19, Fig. 2, FT06a–FT06c; Osypiński 2006: 351, Fig. 3, 355, Fig. 8.

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Figs. 11a–b: Burial chamber of Late Meroitic grave type II with scattered human bones and grave goods, site 5500, grave 1 (photos E. Kołosowska).

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At a depth of about 0.55 m from the top of the shaft, its dimensions decreased, creating a narrow (0.12 m wide) ledge along the walls at its east end. At the bottom of the shaft, at a depth of around 1.0 m, there was an elongated, roughly rectangular opening aligned northwest to southeast, leading to the burial chamber (Fig. 10c). Two flat rough slabs that once blocked the access to the chamber survived (Fig. 10b). Looters had removed the remaining blocking material in antiquity. The chamber walls widened downwards forming a slightly flattened circle at its base, divided into two similar-sized sections (diameter 1.5 m, radius 0.8 m) (Fig. 10a). Grave Furnishings At the bottom of the northwest section of the burial chamber, at a depth of approx. 1.95 m below the top, two large hand-made ceramic vessels were deposited (Figs. 11a–b).25 In the northern section, near the wall, a large storage jar with globular body and a straight neck of medium width and height was placed. The exterior of the vessel is brown with gray patches caused by firing and delicately smoothed on the neck; the shoulder was decorated with geometrical a pattern of comb-impressed dotted lines forming a continuous frieze filled with a double line of lozenges bordered above and below by a double groove. Throughout the Meroitic period, similar vessels were produced in Central Sudan26 and in the region of the Fourth Cataract.27 The second vessel was placed against the wall in the western section of the chamber. It is a globular beer jar with a tall narrow neck and red-slipped exterior. Vessels of a similar shape, dated to the Late Meroitic and early Post-Meroitic periods, come from the Southern Dongola Reach28 and the region of the Fourth Cataract.29 A body had been deposited in the southeast section of the chamber, where the floor was approximately 10.0–12.0 cm below the floor of the northwest section. Due to grave robbers, the bones did not survive in their original position (Figs. 11a–b & 12), but again, based on comparisons, it can be surmised that the body had been aligned NE–SW, placed on its left side in a contracted or flexed position, with the head at the NE end (where the skull was found), facing the inside of the side niche, assuming that the Late Meroitic burial tradition had still been followed. However, a different attitude, prompted by changes in burial practice, cannot be ruled out. But surely the body had been placed on its side in a contracted position, aligned roughly E–W; however, the face may have been turned towards the shaft. The fill of the shaft and the burial chamber yielded scant remnants of the jewelry the deceased was once provided with – flat round beads of ostrich eggshell and two red tubular beads, probably made of carnelian. The eggshell beads are the same type as found in grave 16, site 5364. Parallels for the far more rarely noted carnelian beads, which were made throughout the Meroitic period, have been recorded at Gabati, Central Sudan,30 and in Lower Nubia.31 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

A detailed analysis of the ceramics from this grave will be published by Jana Helmbold-Doyé. Edwards 1998: 165, 170–173, Figs. 6.19–6.22; Geus 1984, 74, Fig. 6. Lemiesz 2006: 372–373, Fig. 3, HBI/T6/D; Żurawski 2008: 435, Fig. 2, SH5/T3A/A, 436; El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2007: 16, Fig. 5m. Phillips 2003: 406, Pls. 25–26. Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 33, Fig. 22h. Edwards 1998: 232, Fig. 9, I.B.1.b, I.C.12.b, 234, Fig. 11, I.C.1.b. Williams 1991: 233, Fig. 46c.

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Fig. 12: Burial chamber of Late Meroitic grave type II with scattered human bones, site 5500, grave 1 (photo T. Klatt).

Below the narrow eastern section of the teardrop-shaped superstructure was a relatively shallow oval pit (1.2 m E–W x 1.6 m N–S, depth 0.75 m), probably originally used for depositing additional grave goods (Figs. 13a–c). The pit, like the main burial chamber, had been robbed in antiquity. We found it empty. The narrow end of similar egg-shaped tumuli in the Fourth Cataract region featured a small niche known as a lamp-box.32 Discussion Based on an analysis of burial traditions and burial goods, type II graves, like type I graves, are attributable to the last stage of the Meroitic period and can be dated to the 3rd c. AD.33 Structural differences between the substructures of grave 1 from site 5500, graves 16 and 17 from site 5364, and graves 1 and 3 from site 5362 may have been dictated by geological factors. The geological substrate at site 5500 consisted of a relatively soft layer of thick sediments, formed by material deposited by the wadi stream. To improve security, graves were dug to much greater depth than at sites 5362 and 5364, where solid rock lay just below a thin layer of sediment and burial chambers could be cut into a hard substrate.

32 33

Borcowski &Welsby 2012: 19, Fig. 2, FT06b. El-Tayeb 2012: 49–52.

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Figs. 13a–c: Additional pit, probably for grave goods, at Late Meroitic grave type II, site 5500, grave 1 (photo E. Kołosowska; drawings J. Eger & E. Kołosowska).

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Figs. 14a–d: Grave superstructure during and after cleaning, transitional period between the Late and Post-Meroitic, site 5500, grave 6 (photos E. Kołosowska; drawing J. Eger).

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A Grave Dated to the Transitional Period Between the Late and Post-Meroitic Evidence for the development of burial rites in the following era – the transitional period between the Late Meroitic and Post-Meroitic – was recorded in the second tumulus (5500.6) excavated at site 5500, the southernmost feature at this burial ground (Fig. 8). Superstructure The superstructure is like all of the other tumuli – teardrop-shaped and narrower at its east end; however, it was much smaller (5.8 m N–S, 6.45 m E–W, height 0.5 m) and less carefully constructed than grave 1. The stones used for the revetment were smaller and arranged quite haphazardly (Figs. 14a–d). Substructure The shaft, rectangular in plan and with the longer sides oriented E–W (length 1.6 m, width 1.2 m) (Figs. 15a–d), resembles a dromos – a type of passage featuring two steps leading from the short east side of the shaft into a kidney-shaped burial chamber, located on its west side (length 1.6 m, width 0.46 m) (Fig. 15c). Access to the first step of the dromos, located approximately 0.6 m below the top of the shaft, was facilitated by a small step in the south-east corner of the shaft (Figs. 15a–b). Originally, access to the burial chamber had been prevented by boulders of medium size (Fig. 15d). However, these were removed in antiquity by grave robbers (Fig. 15a). The closest analogies for this type of grave with a dromos leading to a single chamber were discovered at several sites in the Fourth Cataract region, although their shafts were usually trapezoidal in plan.34 Other tombs with trapezoidal shafts have also been recorded in Gabati where, however, they were dated to the Meroitic period,35 and Musawwarat es-Sufra, there attributed to the Post-Meroitic period.36 Examples of graves with a small step in one of the corners of the shaft providing easier access to a burial chamber have been noted in the Fourth Cataract region37 and in the Southern Dongola Reach,38 but in association with later, Post-Meroitic graves. Looting had badly disturbed the skeleton. The surviving articulated bones of the lower body allow us to deduce that the body, in a contracted position, originally lay on its right side, aligned N–S, head to the south and facing east towards the shaft (Figs. 16a–b). This position is evidence of a break with the Late Meroitic tradition of placing the body facing the burial chamber, suggesting the beginning of a new ritual requiring the body to face the shaft, as was the case for the whole Post-Meroitic period. 34 35 36 37 38

El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2005: 65, 66, Fig. 24; El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2007: 21, 22, Fig. 11; Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 24–27, Figs. 13a–b, d. Edwards 1998: 24, 25, Fig. 2.8, T. 42, 26, 28, Fig. 2.10, T. 43, T. 48. Joachim 2014: 199, Fig. 16. Kołosowska 2010: 95, Fig. 10, 96, Fig. 12, 97, Fig. 15; El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2005: 68, Fig. 26; Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014, 40, Fig. 29d, 42, Fig. 31. El-Tayeb 2002: 146, Fig. 36.

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e

Figs. 15a–e: Grave substructure, transitional period between the Late and Post-Meroitic, site 5500, grave 6 (photos and drawings E. Kołosowska).

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Figs. 16a–b: Burial chamber with skeletal remains and grave goods, transitional period between the Late and Post-Meroitic, site 5500, grave 6 (photos E. Kołosowska).

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Similarly placed bodies were also recorded in graves with a dromos at Gabati39 and Musawwarat es-Sufra.40 In the Fourth Cataract region, indirect evidence for the positioning of the body in this manner is provided by the same position of a human figurine deposited in a pit, itself a miniature replica of a dromos type grave, discovered next to a grave in Kassinger Bahri.41 Grave Furnishings On the floor of the chamber, at a depth of approx. 1.1 m below the top of the shaft, two handmade ceramic vessels were deposited (Figs. 15c & 16a).42 A large beer jar with globular body and a tall tapering neck of medium width was preserved in its original position, placed against the wall, at the narrow northern end of the chamber. There is a red slip on the exterior. Handmade jars dating back to the Late Meroitic to early Post-Meroitic period in the region of the Fourth Cataract,43 the Dongola Reach,44 and Gabati45 display many similarities to this jar. The other vessel, broken with the sherds scattered by robbers in antiquity, was originally placed in the south section of the chamber, in front of the deceased’s face (Figs. 15c–d). It was a medium-sized beer jar with round body, sloping shoulder, and short tapered neck. The brown surface with gray spots, produced during firing, was burnished. Technologically and typologically, this vessel is similar to the jar from the same burial but it is considerably smaller. Parallels have been found at the Fourth Cataract,46 in the Dongola Reach,47 and at Gabati.48 Along with the pottery, the backfill of the shaft and the burial chamber included a large number of blue-glazed, faience beads – originally components of necklaces or bracelets. Most beads were tubular, and some were single, double, or triple torus-shaped. Such beads were widely used to make jewelry in both Central Sudan49 and Sudanese Nubia.50 Other finds included a stone archers’ ring in the form of a truncated cone and parts of four iron arrowheads:51 The arrowheads are small (less than 5 cm long) and flat; three had single barbs.52 They could have been used mainly for hunting and most probably for military 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

52

Edwards 1998: 91, Fig. 4.13, T. 83–84, 96, Fig. 4.15, T. 117B. Joachim 2014: 197, Fig. 10. Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 27, Fig. 13d. A detailed analysis of the ceramics of this grave will be published in a forthcoming article by Jana Helmbold-Doyé. Kołosowska & Borcowski: 33, Figs. 22d–e. Phillips 2003: 406, Pl. 28, 407, Pl. 29. Edwards 1998: 170, Fig. 6.19. Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 33, Figs. 22b–c. Klimaszewska-Drabot 2007: 483, Fig. 3, Z18/6. Edwards 1998: 174, Fig. 6.23. Edwards 1998: 233, Fig. 10, ID2b, 234, Fig. 11, I.C.1.b, I.C.2.b. Williams 1991: 233, Fig. 46a, g; Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 34–34, Figs. 24a–h. Thanks to the permisson of NCAM, the arrowheads and archers’ring, together with examples of the beads from these graves, could be featured in the special exhibition ‘Tod und Ewigkeit. Die Münster-Mumie im Fokus der Forschung’ at the Archaeological Museum of Münster University, November 19, 2016 – January 22, 2017. Cf. Eger & Lohwasser 2016. The arrowheads were analysed and restored at the Institute for Conservation and Restoration of Archaeological Heritage at the University of Applied Sciences for Technology and Economy, Berlin; see Gornik 2015.

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purposes. Some scholars interpret small arrowheads as models made as a grave goods, but such a hypothesis seems not very likely.53 The convex archers’ ring is of the (mostly earlier) type 1, according to the nomenclature established by Samantha Cook.54 Archers’ rings are relatively rare finds from graves dating from the Late Meroitic to early Post-Meroitic period in Central Sudan55 and throughout Nubia.56 The graves where they have come to light are traditionally interpreted as male burials. Arrowheads are, by contrast to archers’rings, common finds, also usually associated with male burials. Artefacts of this type have been recovered from Late and Post-Meroitic contexts both in Central Sudan57 and Nubia.58 Under the superstructure of grave 6, two additional pits in the vicinity of the grave shaft were found (Figs. 17a–c). Both were empty, robbed in antiquity, but most probably, they were originally used for grave goods. The first pit was quite shallow and irregular (width 0.5 m NE–SW, length 0.9 m NW–SE). As was the case for grave 1 at the same site, the pit was located below the narrow tip of the superstructure’s east end (Fig. 17a). The remains of the other small, oval-shaped pit (0.4 m SW–NE x 0.68 m SE–NW) were discovered close to the long southern wall of the grave shaft (Fig. 17b). The pit was situated above the southern section of the burial chamber. Similarly located deposit pits have been recorded with many graves in the Fourth Cataract region dating from both the transitional59 and the early Post-Meroitic period.60 Analysis of the structure, evidence for burial rites, and grave goods allows us to date the grave to the transitional period between the Late and Post-Meroitic cultures, that is, to the late 3rd to mid-4th c. AD.61

Post-Meroitic Graves One of the tumuli, designated number 1, situated to the east of a cluster of Christian graves at site 5364, was most probably built in the Post-Meroitic period, as suggested by its superstructure (diameter 8.0 m, height c. 0.8 m) (Figs. 18a–b); because this feature had been looted relatively recently, it was not selected for excavation; hence its dating is uncertain.

53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61

These items are under further study by J. Eger. Cook 2013: 170. Geus 1984: 78, Fig. 11. Bonnet 1990: 258, Fig. 429; Williams 1991: Pl. 68; Welsby 2003: 73, 76, Fig. 4.1.6; Grzymski 2003: 27, Fig. 3; Żurawski 2007: 373, Fig. 4. Edwards 1998: 127, 136, Fig. 5.12. Woolley & Randall-Maciver 1910: Pls. 34–35; Williams 1991: Pl. 69; Bonnet 1990: 258, Fig. 430; Żurawski 2005: 217, Fig. 25; Osypiński 2006, 360, Fig. 13; Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 35, Fig. 24m, 50, Fig. 43i. Kołosowska & Borcowski 2014: 26–27, Figs. 13b, d, f, 37–38, Figs. 26–28; Żurawski 2008: 435–436, Fig. 2. El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2004: 68, Fig. 26; Kołosowska 2010: 97, Fig. 15, 98–99, Figs. 18b–f, 20–21. Nomenclature and dating after El-Tayeb 2012: 53–57.

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Figs. 17a–c: Additional pits by the main grave shaft: pit 1 below the narrow east end of an egg-shaped superstructure (a), oval-shaped pit 2 alongside the long southern wall of the grave shaft (c); transitional period between the Late and Post-Meroitic, site 5500, grave 6 (photos E. Kołosowska; drawing E. Kołosowska & J. Eger).

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a

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Figs. 18a–b: Superstructure of Post-Meroitic grave, site 5364, grave 1 (photos E. Kołosowska).

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Medieval Graves By Jana Eger

Box Graves at Cemetery 5364 An area of graves with different structures than those described above was documented within the central part of cemetery 5364 (Fig. 19). At first glance, the graves seemed to be quite irregular. After cleaning, the superstructures of three box graves and two small tumuli were discernible. The box graves had thin walls made of stones, filled with a quantity of rubble. The construction technique certainly contributed to the speedy erosion of the superstructures (Fig. 20). In the Wadi Abu Dom, this kind of box grave can be defined as ‘type 1’. The filling with pebbles resembles box graves documented at the Fourth Cataract – for example, near the fortress of El-Ar62 – but here it seems to be a rather poor variant. They can be paralleled best with the grave types FF03b and partly FF03a, according to the nomenclature developed by Derek Welsby and Zbigniew Borcowski for the Fourth Cataract area.63 Two more graves with no clearly visible superstructure were discovered during the cleaning of the surface directly next to the box graves. One of them contained the burial of a child. In the other an adult was interred. Neither of these graves had been intruded upon by other burials nor by any other structure in antiquity. Perhaps these burials were made in quick succession or there may have been some other means which enabled those who used the cemetery to know the position of each grave, even those unmarked above ground. An interesting juxtaposition of burials is provided by the box grave 5364.7 and the directly adjacent grave 5364.10 without superstructure. Despite the fact that the childs’ burial lacked a superstructure, it was equipped with stone blocking and can thus be defined as rather elaborate. Since 5364.7 contained the burial of an adult woman of around 60 years and 5364.10 a small child, it seems plausible that they were associated in some way. DNA-analysis could not determine whether the woman and the child were related,64 and the difference in age between the elderly woman and the child aged 1–2 years precludes their being a mother and her child, but the proximity of the burials suggests there could have been a close personal relationship during their lifetimes. As expected, the substructures of these box graves both with and without superstructure exhibited the features typical for this type of Christian interment, with a narrow, vertical shaft oriented E–W. The burials themselves were situated below underneath a blocking of flat stone slabs (Fig. 21). Only the burial of the adult female lacked any trace of a stone blocking. As common for Christian burial customs, no grave-goods were discovered in the shafts or superstructures. The only find was a type of bowl datable to the Christian period from one of the box-shaped superstructures (feature 7). Most of the skeletons were in good condition, lying in an extended dorsal position. Thanks to their good preservation, several anthropological investigations were possible, including paleopathological, DNA, and isotopes analyses.65

62 63 64 65

Żurawski 2014: 147–148. Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 9. Cf. Jugert et al. in this volume. Cf. Jugert et al. in this volume.

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Fig. 19: Plan of the central part of cemetery 5364 (map J. Eger).

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Fig. 20: Superstructure of a box grave type 1 from cemetery 5364 (photo J. Eger).

Fig. 21: Substructure of a box grave type 1 from cemetery 5364 (photo J. Eger).

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Christian Tumuli at Cemetery 5364 The most noteworthy features are the two small tumuli among the box graves at site 5364 mentioned above. They were circular and relatively flat, with diameters from 3–5 m. A single ring of medium-sized stones was filled with rubble. The substructure was comparable to the adjacent box graves and other Christian burials: an elongated vertical shaft, oriented E–W, with the well-preserved body of the deceased below a blocking of flat stone-slabs, with no indication of any grave goods. At least one of the burials – 5364.6 – revealed relatively well preserved traces of a shroud,66 made of linen or some other vegetal fiber. A decorated lining of wool was attached to one edge and there is a large knot at one corner of the shroud, which may have fulfilled a practical as well as a decorative purpose.67 Since the tumulus contained only one burial, it differs significantly from tumulus-like multi-burial grave structures from the Fourth Cataract.68 Similar simple tumuli with single Christian burials are very rare and occur only in other rather remote areas, like the western river bank of the Fourth Cataract,69 and the vicinity of the Sixth Cataract.70 After having discovered such circular tumuli among box graves earlier during surveying other parts of the Wadi Abu Dom, too, the idea developed that this type of Christian tumuli could represent a transitional phase between the Post-Meroitic and the Christian (Makurian) periods.71 For verification of that idea with regard to the Wadi Abu Dom, a sample from the shroud was analyzed by the radiocarbon method with the goal of acquiring an absolute date.72 The result was rather surprising (Fig. 23). The sample dates most probably to the 9th or late 8th c. AD, the Middle Ages in the Sudan. But it must be admitted that only a single sample was analyzed and that the material of the shroud was not the most suitable for this dating method. Nevertheless, the C14 date is at least a strong indication that burial customs connected with tumuli superstructures were still in use for quite a long time within the Christian period. For a wider understanding of the nature of these Christian tumuli more research is needed. We were only able to investigate two examples. Nevertheless, we must bear in mind for now that the idea they document the transitional phase between the Post-Meroitic and the Makurian era might prove wrong. For the moment, we have not yet found confirmation neither for a transitional phase nor for a cultural gap between the Post-Meroitic and the early Makurian culture within the Wadi Abu Dom.

66 67 68 69 70 71 72

The shroud was conserved at the Museum of Byzantine Art, Berlin. The authors thank Kathrin Mälck and Cäcilia Fluck for their kind assistance. Thanks to the permission of NCAM, parts of the shroud were on display during the special exhibition ‘Tod und Ewigkeit’ in Münster (cf. Eger & Lohwasser 2016). Welsby 2016: 622–624. Paner & Pudło 2010: 143. Ahmed Nassr, personal communication. This seemed to be true for some examples from the Fourth Cataract dated to the late 6th or early 7th c. (Paner & Pudło 2010: 143; cf. also Welsby 2016: 624). The analysis was done by the Poznan Radiocarbon Laboratory. The authors thank Pawel Wolf and Tomasz Goslar for their help.

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Box Graves at Cemetery 5500 At cemetery 5500, four additional box graves with superstructures of more durable workmanship were excavated. Such box graves which we have defined as box grave ‘type 2’ (Fig. 22) differ significantly from those with less durable superstructures documented at cemetery 5364 (Fig. 20). Comparable box graves at the Fourth Cataract are of type FF03d.73 East of Bir Merwa, in the upper Wadi Abu Dom, these large and durable box graves seem to be standard, while in the middle wadi poorer box graves predominate, suggesting that the upper wadi was ecologically more favored than the middle wadi during the middle ages.74 As at cemetery 5364, a bowl to be dated to the Christian period was placed on a stone on the western side outside the box-shaped superstructure. The burials, all covered with stone-slabs, were in a similar condition as in cemetery 5364, and comparably probed. Also at cemetery 5500, the grave of a woman was closely associated with that of a child: a young adult woman was interred in box grave 5500.2 immediately adjacent to box grave 5500.5 with the burial of an approx. six month-old infant. Here the age of the woman does not exclude the possibility of a mother-child relationship. Unlike the childs’ burial in cemetery 5364, the grave of the infant here had a box grave superstructure. Nevertheless, the box grave 5500.5 was so small and completely covered with sand that it had escaped discovery during the survey. Thus, it cannot be excluded that more box graves are hidden beneath the sand at cemetery 5500. To sum up, the investigations of the sample cemeteries excavated in the WadiAbu Dom support the idea of a ‘rural Meroitic period’ as proposed during the early phase of the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project.75 Documentation of the substructures of the tumuli initially dated to the Post-Meroitic period showed that they were attributable to a phase contemporaneous with the (late) Meroitic period, while evidence for material contemporary to the earlier Meroitic phases is still lacking. The existence of Christian tumuli in this part of the Wadi Abu Dom shows the survival of earlier traditions in this remote area even following significant changes in religious belief. The important question of whether there was a transitional phase or a gap between the Post-Meroitic and the Medieval periods is still not answered. The initial hypothesis, that tumulus-shaped Christian burials represented a transitional phase, was disproved by the internal chronology of the cemeteries. Further research and more data would be necessary to make progress towards solving this problem.

73 74 75

Borcowski & Welsby 2012: 9. Cf. Karberg & Lohwasser in this volume. Lohwasser 2011: 67.

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Fig. 22: Superstructure of a box grave type 2 from cemetery 5500 (photo J. Eger).

Fig. 23: Radiocarbon date of the shroud sample from cemetery 5264 (diagram Poznan Radiocarbon Laboratory).

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Bibliography Adams, W. Y. 1986 Ceramic Industries of Medieval Nubia. Memoirs of the UNESCO Archaeological Survey of Sudanese Nubia 1, Lexington. Bonnet, Ch. 1990 Kerma, royaume de Nubie. Lʼantiquité africaine au temps des pharaons. Exposition organisée au Musée dʼart et dʼhistoire, Genève 14 juin – 25 novembre 1990. Geneve. Borcowski, Z. & Welsby, D. A. 2012 The Merowe Dam Archaeological Salvage Project (MDASP). Provisional Type Series of Monuments. In: Wotzka, H.-P. (ed.), Proceedings of the Third International Conference onArchaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract, University of Cologne, 13–14 July 2006. Africa Praehistorica 22. Köln, 15–32. Chittick, H. N. 1955 An Exploratory Journey in the Bayuda Region. In: Kush 3, 86–92. Cook, S. 2013 Archersʼ Looses in IronAge Sudan:AnAsiatic Style in anAfrican Context. In: Journal of Conflict Archaeology 7.3, 165–176. Edwards, D. N., Rose, P. J., Smith, L. M. V., Taylor, S., Cool, H., Clapham, A., Mould, Q. & Ryder, M. 1998 Gabati. A Meroitic, Post-Meroitic and Medieval Cemetery in Central Sudan. BAR International Series 740. Oxford. Eger, J. & Lohwasser, A. 2016 Tote und Gräber. Herausforderungen in der Archäologie. In: Lichtenberger, A., Lohwasser, A. & Nieswandt, H.-H. (eds.), Tod und Ewigkeit. Die Münster-Mumie im Fokus der Forschung. Veröffentlichungen des Archäologischen Museums der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster 7. Münster, 18–23. El-Nur, O. & Bandi, H. 1994 The Potential of the IVth Cataract Archaeological Project I. Mound-Graves at Umm Ruweim and Khor al-Greyn. In: Berger, C., Clerc, G. & Grimal, N. (eds.), Hommages à Jean Leclant 2. Nubie, Soudan, Éthiopie. BdE 106.2, 323–331. El-Tayeb, M. 2002 Genesis of the Makurian Culture in the Light of Archaeological Sources. Cahiers de Recherches de lʼInstitut de Papyrologie et dʼEgyptologie de Lille. Supplement 6. Lille. 2012 Funerary traditions in Nubian Early Makuria. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 9. Monograph Series 1. Warsaw.

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El-Tayeb, M. & Kołosowska, E. 2005 Burial Traditions on the Right Bank of the Nile In the Fourth Cataract Region. In: Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 4, 51–74. 2007 Meroitic Burial Traditions in the Fourth Cataract Region. In: Näser, C. & Lange, M. (eds.), Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Berlin, August 4th – 6th, 2005. Meroitica 23. Wiesbaden, 11–25. Geus, F. 1984 Rescuing Sudan Ancient Cultures. Khartoum. Gornik, P. 2015 Postmeroitische Pfeilspitzen aus WadiAbu Dom – Konzept zu konservatorisch-restauratorischen Maßnahmen. Unpublished B.A.-Thesis, Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin. Grzymski, K. 2003 Gebel Adda Revisited. In: Godlewski, W. & Łajtar, A. (eds.), Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th Conference of Nubian Studies. Warsaw University, 27 August – 2 September 2006. Part Two: Session Papers. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean Supplement Series 2.2/1. Warsaw, 25–33. Joachim, F. 2014 Der Nordfriedhof (IF) von Musawarat es Sufra. In: Lohwasser, A. & Wolf, P. (eds.), Ein Forscherleben zwischen den Welten. Zum 80. Geburtstag von Steffen Wenig. MittSAG Sonderheft. Berlin, 191–213. Kołosowska, E. 2010 A Cemetery Site at El-’Ashamin Village in the Fourth Cataract Region. In: Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 6, 91–108. Kołosowska, E. & Borcowski, Z. 2014 Once more on Kassinger Bahri Cemetery. Final Report. In: Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 11, 17–58. Lemiesz, M. 2006 Hagar el-Beida 1. Excavations of a Late/Post-Meroitic Cemetery. In: Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 17, 368–373. Lohwasser, A. 2011 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary. Kampagne 2011. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 59–68. Osypiński, P. 2006 Es-Sadda 1. Excavations of a Post-Meroitic Cemetery (Two Seasons). In: Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 17, 348–363.

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Paner, H. 1998 The Hamdab Dam Project. Preliminary Report from Work in the 4th Cataract Region, 1996–1997. In: Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 1, 115–132. Paner, H. & Pudło, A. 2010 Settlements in the Fourth Cataract GAME Concession in the Light of Radiocarbon Analysis. In: Paner, H., Jakobielski, S. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Fourth CataractArchaeological Salvage Project 1996–2009, Gdańsk, 2–4 July, 2009. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7. Gdańsk, 131–146 Phillips, J. 2003 An Overview of the Ceramics. In: Żurawski, B., Survey and Excavations between Old Dongola and Ez-Zuma. Southern Dongola Reach of the Nile from prehistory to 1820 AD based on the fieldwork conducted in 1997–2003 by the Polish Archaeological Joint Expedition to the Middle Nile. Nubia II. Southern Dongola Reach Survey 1. Warsaw, 387–437. 2010 Preliminary analysis of ‘mat’- and ‘basket’-impressed ceramics from the Southern Dongola Reach Survey. In: Godlewski, W. & Łajtar, A. (eds.), Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th Conference for Nubian Studies. Warsaw University, 27 August – 2 September 2006. Part Two: Session Papers. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean Supplement Series 2.2/1. Warsaw, 227–236. Shinnie, P. L. & Chittick, H. N. 1961 Ghazali. A Monastery in the Northern Sudan. Sudan Antiquities Service Occasional Papers 5. Khartoum. Welsby, D. A. 2003 Survey above the Fourth Nile Cataract. Sudan Archaeological Research Society 10. London. 2016 Observations on Graves of the Medieval Period in the SARS Concession at the Fourth Cataract. In: Łaitar, A., Obłuski, A. & Zych, I. (eds.), Aegyptus and Nubia Christiana. The Włodzimierz Godlewski Jubilee Volume on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday. Warsaw, 613-628. Williams, B. B. 1991 Meroitic Remains from Qustul Cemetery Q, Ballana Cemetery B and a Ballana Settlement. Part 1: Text and Figures. Excavations between Abu Simbel and the Sudan Frontier. Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition 8. Chicago. Woolley, C. L. & Randall-MacIver, D. 1910 Karanòg: The Romano-Nubian Cemetery. The University Museum Philadelphia Eckley B. Coxe Junior Expedition to Nubia 3–4. Żurawski, B. 2005 The Archaeology of Saffi Island (2004 Season). In: Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 4, 199–218. 2007 Shemkhiya 2006/2007. In: Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 17, 369–375. 2008 Shemkiya. Season 2006. In: Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 18, 433–444.

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Anthropologic and Palaeogenetic Studies on Human Skeletal Remains from the Wadi Abu Dom, Sudan Friederike Jugert, Theresa W. Klatt, Birgit Grosskopf & Susanne Hummel

Abstract Next to the survey work of the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) project of the Westfälische WilhelmsUniversity of Münster, anthropological investigations were conducted on a specific skeletal sample in 2015. Throughout the campaign, 15 skeletons were excavated at three (Late-)Meroitic to Christian cemeteries in the Wadi Abu Dom, located in the Central Bayuda, Sudan. Main interest concerned the reconstruction of population based structures such as general circumstances of life and social patterns. Preservation stages varied strongly among the skeletons; diverse pathological changes and anatomical variations were detected, while the molecular analyses revealed first insights on population genetics. Excavations of cemeteries in the Wadi Abu Dom should continue in order to put the data at hand into a statistically significant context. Keywords: Historic Anthropology, Palaeopathology, Meroitic Period, African mtHaplotypes, Paleogenetics

Introduction The Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) project of the Westfälische Wilhelms-University of Münster, led by Angelika Lohwasser, aims at documenting cultural sites of the Northern Sudan by surveying the Wadi Abu Dom in detail. As part of this project, targeted excavations including anthropological investigations of human skeletal remains were conducted at selected cemeteries in spring 2015. The investigations were carried out in cooperation with the work group of the Department of Historic Anthropology and Human Ecology at the Georg-AugustUniversity of Göttingen. The WadiAbu Dom is located in the Central Bayuda desert and proceeds from the Southeast to the Northwest towards the Nil. This part of the Sahara is characterized by debris and bedrock as well as extended sands. The excavations focused on cemeteries including both Late and Post-Meroitic tumuli as well as Christian box graves.1 Therefore, it seemed to be possible to also document the transitional period in an archaeological context. (Pre-)historic anthropology approaches living conditions of human ancestry through biological data and characteristics. Therefore, macroscopic, microscopic and even molecular 1

Lohwasser et al. 2015: 113.

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methods are used to investigate human skeletal remains, thereby detecting skeletal changes with focus on typical traces of living circumstances. Beside basic demographic data such as age at death and sex, these methods enable the investigation of pathologic and genetic traits. Hence, main interests are extended towards the reconstruction of population characteristics such as kinship and behavioral patterns of the investigated individuals as well as their general circumstances of life.

Material The initial excavation campaign of the W.A.D.I. project was reorganized into a rescue excavation. The three cemeteries (5363, 5364, and 5500), where a total of 15 skeletons (single burials) was recovered, are located near the newly built reservoir dam of the Wadi Abu Dom area. Therefore, the graves were – and still are – in acute danger of being repeatedly flooded by the waters of the reservoir as well as of possible agricultural use of the nearby lands. Only certain parts of the burial sites and specifically chosen graves were excavated. The box graves all revealed skeletons in a stretched and dorsal position typical for Christian burials. Most of the skeletons recovered from the Late and Post-Meroitic tumuli were either laid down in a stretched dorsal position or, most likely due to grave robbery, in an anatomically disturbed position. Preservation stages of the skeletons varied strongly and were therefore classified as follows: Four skeletons were preserved very good and nearly complete (e.g. Fig. 1A). Five were moderately preserved or incomplete showing multiple post mortal fractures especially to the skull (e.g. Fig. 1B). The remaining six skeletons were poorly preserved, i.e. highly fractured and incomplete due to strong decomposition processes (e.g. Fig. 1C). In cases like these, the excavation of full skeletons was impaired due to the chalky-porous structure of the remains.

Fig. 1:

Classification of differing preservation stages: A) A very good preserved skeleton (5364_07_03); B) A moderately preserved skeleton (5500_03_11); C) A poorly preserved skeleton (5364_17_09).

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Methods Individuals were numbered including gravesite and feature number as well as the consecutive skeletal number. Photographic documentation was conducted throughout the entire excavation process. In addition, a thorough in situ report including as much information as possible about the skeleton and its burial circumstances was issued for each individual. After excavation, the recovered bones were investigated macroscopically under field conditions. The collected information and data were recorded by the use of specifically adapted reporting forms. After the morphological investigations were completed, samples were taken from each individual for laboratory analyses to be performed back in Germany at the Department for Historic Anthropology and Human Ecology, Göttingen. The samples included dental material and bone fragments for DNA-analysis (sex verification and kinship), histological and radiological investigations (age at death determination) as well as isotopic analysis (determination of burial time and history of settlement).

Methods: Morphologic and Morphometric Investigations If possible, the following data were collected for each individual: age at death, sex, pathological as well as age dependent degenerative changes and osteometric measurements concerning body height, robustness and skull characteristics. Additionally, individuals were investigated in terms of anatomical variations and habitually dependent changes. Morphological sex determinations of adult individuals were primarily carried out by assessing the functional differences of the pelvic bone in male and female individuals arising from the biological determination of birth giving. Furthermore, the sex discriminating features of the skull were taken into account carefully considering the less obvious sexual dimorphism of the African individuals compared to e.g. European individuals.2 Both methods are based on the established work by Acsádi and Nemeskéri.3 The methods used for sex determination of subadult individuals are mainly based on morphometrics of the iliac bone4 since the morphological traits, which make up the biological function of the pelvis, start to develop during puberty by the release of sex hormones. Biological age classifications were carried out according to the established anthropological system (cf. Tab. 2). These age classes are usually divided into the subclasses early, middle and late. The determination of the biological age at death was – for well preserved skeletons – conducted using the classical repertoire also established by Acsádi and Nemeskéri (‘complex method’).5 It combines four characteristic age dependent changes in the adult human bone: the surface of the Facies symphysialis ossis pubis, the ossification of the cranial sutures as well as the internal structure of the proximal epiphyses of femora and humeri. In addition, the abrasion of molar teeth, general joint wear and the possible ossification of cartilage were

2 3 4 5

Klepinger 2006: 28–30. Acsádi & Nemeskéri 1970: 75–91. Herrmann et al. 1990: 86–88; Schutkowski 1990: 120–121. Acsádi & Nemeskéri 1970: 122–135.

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evaluated. For incomplete or strongly decomposed skeletons, these characteristics were taken into account separately. The age of subadult individuals was mainly approached by the dental status, i.e. the progression of deciduous and permanent dentition6 as well as the ossification process of epi- and apophyses.7 Through systematic macroscopic assessment, the bones were carefully screened for pathologies or traumatic impacts as aberrations of regular anatomy. Changes were diagnosed and documented descriptively as well as photographically. The identification of diseases followed standard diagnostic codes8 and evaluation systems. In order to reconstruct the body height of each individual, osteometric measurements of the long bones were taken in situ as well as ex situ. Empirically established discriminant functions by Raxter,9 which describe the relation between the measure of long bones and body height based on a Western African population, were applied. In addition, the total body length was measured in situ – anatomical integrity granted – as described by Herrmann et al.10 Further macroscopic investigations were performed to asses possible population-based osteometric and descriptive features such as bone robustness and discontinuing varying traits, so called anatomical variation.

Methods: Histology The evaluation of the microstructure of the bone is an alternative method for age at death determination. Therefore, 40 – 120 µm thick cut cross sections of femoral diaphyses were investigated microscopically, visualizing age dependent changes of the internal bone structure,11 which were evaluated qualitatively. This method can also be used to identify paleopathological changes of inner bone structures.12 Furthermore, the extent of bacterial colonization of the bone can be estimated13 which may be important for the optimization of laboratory and instrument parameters in the course of molecular analyses.14

Methods: Molecular Analyses Different extraction protocols like automated DNA purification with the EZ1 robot by QIAGEN® and manual Phenol/Chloroform-QiaVac-MinElute™ extraction altered after QIAGEN® as well as various PCR-Kits (e.g. QIAGEN® Multiplex Mastermix) were used to analyze the presumably strongly degraded DNA.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Herrmann et al. 1990: 53–57, taken from Ubelaker 1978. Herrmann et al. 1990: 58–59. Herrmann et al. 1990: 115–172; Ortner & Putschar 1985; Waldron 2009; Roberts & Manchester 2010. Raxter et al. 2008: 150. Herrmann et al. 1990: 36. Herrmann et al. 1990: 193–196. Herrmann et al. 1990: 196–204. Herrmann et al. 1990: 10–12. Hummel 2003: 69–70.

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Kinship may be addressed either on a population-genetic level through mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence analysis or on an individual level by autosomal Short Tandem Repeat (STR) allele determination. The probability to successfully amplify and analyze mtDNA is highly increased compared to autosomal STRs even for poor and severely degraded sample material, since mitochondrial genomes appear up to a thousandfold compared to the single nuclear genome in most somatic cells. Using Sanger sequencing and the well established purification of the PCR-products through MinElute™ centrifuge (QIAGEN®), mtDNA of the hypervariable region I (HVR I) was nearly fully sequenced for seven of the 15 individuals. Using the HaploGrep2-Software15 and the PhyloTree16 (both available online), the mitochondrial haplogroup was identified for these seven individuals. Attempts to detect individual kinship were carried out using the Investigator ESSplex SE QS PCR Kit by QIAGEN® and another PCR-Kit17 designed by the work group of the Department for Historic Anthropology and Human Ecology, Göttingen.

Results and Discussion: Morphological Investigations The following paragraphs summarize the results of the morphological investigations. Varying states of preservation are mainly due to varying dates of burial, i.e. time and duration of decay and decomposition in terms of the physical and chemical environment. Impact is dependent on pH levels, surrounding temperatures as well as soil moisture.18 This fact explains the nearly full preservation of a chin beard (Fig. 2), but at the same time the very poor preservation of the skeletal remains of the same individual due to temporary low pH levels. It is noticeable that all four very good preserved individuals were recovered from the so-called box graves, whereas the majority of the poorly preserved skeletons were excavated from tumuli, most likely due to different burial times of such (see Tab. 1). The sex ratio points to a surplus in men with nine male, five female and one non-determinable individual. Both male and female determined individuals each include two uncertain diagnoses (tendency, see Tab. 2). The certainty by which sex is determined through morphological methods, i.e. pelvic traits, lies at 90 to 95 %.19 Fig. 2: The well-preserved chin beard of skeleton no. 5364_06_01.

15 16 17 18 19

Van Oven 2015. Van Oven & Kayser 2009. Seidenberg et al. 2012. Hummel 2003: 68–72. Herrmann et al. 1990: 77.

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Tab. 1:

Fig. 3:

20 21

Overview of the different grave types and the condition of each skeleton.

Skeleton no. 5500_05_14: Age at death around six months.

If not all of the traits can be evaluated, the certainty of the determination decreases. This applies to skeletons no. 5363_03_02 and 5500_06_15 due to poor preservation. Furthermore, certainties of morphometric sex determinations in subadult individuals are generally lower at about 70 %20 and are therefore to be exclusively stated as tendencies as applied to skeletons no. 5364_09_05 and 5364_10_06 (see Tab. 2). However, no further demographic conclusions can be drawn from such a small sample size. In addition, the sampling process which favored certain graves such as small (putative) child graves does not allow any statistical interpretation of demographic population structures. However, it is noticeable that the sexual dimorphism of the skull is far less prominent in the investigated African individuals than in European populations, as expected prior to the excavation.21 Age at death ranges from infans I (Fig. 3) to senile individuals revealing a mortality climax within late maturity (see Tab. 2). This age span would also be statistically insignificant due to the small sample size. However, the results do not contradict known data of historic populations elsewhere (e.g. Europe during the

Herrmann et al. 1990: 87; Schutkowski 1990: 120–121. Klepinger 2006: 30.

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Tab. 2:

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Summary of the anthropological base data.

Middle Ages).22 This ‘classical’ trend usually shows an increased mortality for newborn to early infans I individuals resulting in a low life expectancy during these critical months of life. As soon as the first year of life has been reached, child mortality rates decrease. The calculation of the mean age at death for the excavated individuals is 34 years. Still, this data underlays a strong bias since only parts of the cemeteries were excavated. Furthermore, the fact that preferably groups of graves consisting of at least one child burial were excavated has to be taken into account. Body heights were reconstructed for eight adult individuals with mean values of 157 cm (ranging from 155–160 cm) in females and 163 cm (ranging from 160–165 cm) in males, children and uncertain sex determined individuals excluded (see Tab. 2; included body height data in bold). These values are likely to be affected by the above mentioned sample criteria as well. Most pathological changes were of osteoarthritic nature (six of ten assessable adult individuals) which always affected the spine and/or the hip joints (see Tab. 3). In general, osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease seen in skeletons23 primarily concerning articular cartilages, resulting from the discrepancy between load and load-carrying capacity and the consequential break down (which cannot be seen on skeletal remains). A damaged cartilage cannot fulfill its function, thus affecting the bone. Primary osteoarthritis is an inherent part of the aging process; it is almost always visible in some form in the course of adulthood. Whether the aging signs occur earlier (adult age class) or later (e.g. mature age class) in life depends on the specific physical strain within a population. If these changes arise previous to that estimated population-based age they have to be considered as pathological ones. Skeleton no. 5364_13_08 shows typical osteoarthritic changes for an individual of advanced age (58–62 years). 22 23

Herrmann et al. 1990: 308–310. Waldron 2009: 26.

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Fig. 4:

Formation of osteophytes due to osteoarthritis manifested on different skeletal joints of skeleton no. 5364_13_8. A: Dorsal aspect of the right patella with osteophytes at the margin. B: Ventral aspect of the left calcaneus and talus with osteophytes at the margins. C: Lateral aspect of the lumbar vertebrae three and four with exostosis (thin arrow) and ankylosis (bold arrow).

Tab. 3:

Overview of the skeletons affected by osteoarthritis.

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Fig. 5:

The upper jaw of skeleton no. 5364_13_08 exhibits complete intravital teeth loss.

Fig. 6:

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Molars 17 and 18 of skeleton no. 5364_07_03 show an unusually vast extend of dental calculus.

Almost all of the weight bearing joints show signs of arthritis such as the forming of osteophytes (see Tab. 3, e.g. Fig. 4A and B). Partially, the changes exceed the mean degree of degenerative arthritis: The spine shows formations of exostoses (Fig. 4C) that extended the contact face of the vertebral body due to the functional loss of the spinal disc, thus decreasing pressure. In addition, a new bone formation between lumbar vertebrae three and four stiffened this joint (ankylosis, Fig. 4C). The youngest excavated individual affected by osteoarthritis (no. 5364_06_01) was 27–34 years old, while all individuals older than 35 years showed signs of osteoarthritis (see Tab. 3). Since osteoarthritis is a major public health problem due to its high prevalence,24 frequencies depend on age and sex as well as numerous other risk factors. This gives reason to believe that degeneration processes set in early with the individuals recovered in the Wadi Abu Dom. Such an early onset of degenerative features is probably due to prevailing arduous circumstances of life on a population basis and must not be of pathologic nature. Still, the osteoarthritic manifestations for both of the youngest individuals (nos. 5364_06_01 and 5364_12_07, see Tab. 3) could also be reactions to previous trauma, disease, partial weight-bearing or individual predisposition, since no other indicators for an early onset of the degenerative processes were detectable in either case. Dental pathologies occurred in seven of twelve assessable individuals, five of which suffered from periodontitis. Four cases showed intravital tooth loss, one experiencing the loss of his entire upper jaw teeth (Fig. 5). Three of the seven individuals were diagnosed with dental calculus, one even to an unusual extend: two molars of the upper jaw (17 and 18) were nearly completely enclosed by the formation (Fig. 6), most likely due to the intravital loss of the antagonist teeth of the lower jaw. Cribra orbitalia, generally an indicator for hemolytic anemia25 mainly caused by malnutrition, was documented to a minor degree in three out of twelve cases (skeletons no. 5364_06_01, 5364_07_03 and 5500_02_10). This change in metabolism does only manifest itself on the bones temporarily. Thus, the visible indications on the orbital arches are signs for acute iron deficiency but would have been reversible if the deficiency had been rectified.26 24 25 26

Srikant et al. 2005: 769. Waldron 2009: 136–137. Roberts & Manchester 2010: 225–234.

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Fig. 8:

Fig. 7:

Possible gallstone of skeleton no. 5500_03_11.

Diaphysis of the left tibia of skeleton no. 5500_04_13 with periosteal reactions (frontal aspect).

Periosteal reactions commonly originate from various and very diverse causes. Local appearances are mainly caused by heavy or multiple blunt force trauma, whereas systemic occurrences may originate from inflammatory processes or infections due to more complex disease patterns.27 Three out of twelve evaluable skeletons showed systemic but unspecific periosteal reactions (nos. 5500_04_13, 5364_06_01 and 5364_07_ 03). These occurred always at the frontal diaphysis of all four long bones of the lower extremities and in some cases even extending laterally and medially. The periosteum of the femora and tibiae of skeleton no. 5500_04_13 appeared with thickened and extensively spread lines along the diaphysis (Fig. 7). This macroscopic appearance is – among others – associated with syphilis and scurvy, which could both be distinguished microscopically via histological methods. However, no other symptoms pointing towards these two very specific diseases were found here. Thus, the most probable source for this periosteal change would be the intravital inflammation of neighboring tissue.28 Furthermore, some pathological single finds are noticeable. While excavating the female individual no. 5500_03_11, a possible kidney or gallstone was recovered, measuring about 4 cm in diameter (Fig. 8).Acomparison with various objects kept in the substantial anthropologic collection (pathological subcollection) of the Department for Historic Anthropology and Human Ecology showed most associations with other gallstones. Another individual (no. 5500_04_13) showed a minor scoliosis. This malformation appears as a shift of the spine from the sagittal plane, resulting in a partially dislocated 27 28

Herrmann et al. 1990: 142–145. Herrmann et al. 1990: 143.

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body centre. The wedge-shaped vertebral body of the sixth lumbar vertebrae led to a left sided curvature (Fig. 9). The postural compensation was already complete within the three consecutive vertebrae (L6–L4) and did not influence the remaining parts of the spine. Still, the exact cause for this deformation remains unclear. Causes may vary from congenital malformations to traumatic impacts (e.g. compression fracture after falling). The appearance of a sixth lumbar vertebra additionally constitutes an anatomical variation. The male individual no. 5364_08_04 suffered from a fracture of the left clavicle which becomes evident through the formation of callus, healing unsplinted and therefore displaced and abbreviated (Fig. 10). Most found habitual changes occurred to the tibiae. These showed so called ʻHockfacettenʼ (Fig. 11; four out of ten assessable individuals) which embody accessory joints that form through frequent Fig. 9: The lumbar spine of skeleton no. 5500_04_13 shows a minor scoliosis and squatting,29 a habit that can still be seen a sixth wedge-shaped lumbar vertebrae. throughout the recent population. In order to reconstruct social structures, life circumstances, general demographic structures and other historic population-based correlations it is necessary to ascertain and evaluate more data of far more individuals.

Fig. 10: Left clavicle of skeleton no. 5364_08_04 with a healed premortal fracture.

29

Fig. 11: Distal end of the left tibia of skeleton no. 5500_04_13 with a lateral ʻHockfacetteʼ.

Herrmann et al. 1990: 111–112.

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Results and Discussion: Molecular Analyses For seven of the 15 individuals, mtDNA of the HVR I region was nearly fully sequenced. Thus, considering the poor aDNA condition and previous experience with samples from deserts,30 this number validates the choice of method as described. The following table (Tab. 4) summarizes the results of these analyses.

Tab. 4:

mt-HVR I sequencing results with according haplogroups.

It may be pointed out that the type of grave (box grave vs. tumulus) seems to have a certain impact on aDNA preservation of the samples as well. Thereby, the samples from box graves tend to yield better results (four out of seven successful analyses) than the ones from tumuli with only one out of six evaluable sequences (see Tab. 4). This circumstance may be due to different burial periods since the box graves originated posterior to the (Post-)Meroitic tumuli, as has been pointed out earlier. Varying depths of the graves and appearances of disturbed burials may also be considered plausible causes. Especially with burials from very arid deserts such as these, remains located close to the surface underlay strong and daily temperature as well as humidity fluctuations leading to a faster degradation of aDNA.31 In addition, most skeletons from tumuli were infested by micro bacteria to a higher degree than the skeletons from box graves. This may also have had an impact on decreasing aDNA preservation (see Tab. 5).32 Using the HaploGrep2-Software33 and the PhyloTree,34 the mitochondrial haplogroup U5 was identified for the seven individuals (see Tab. 4). This haplogroup occurs at a relatively low rate in North Africa.35 Various sources state that this particular haplogroup emerged in Europe during the Upper Paleolithic Period with the first anatomically modern humans populating the continent. Originating from the Near East, more specifically the Caucasian region, the haplogroup spread mainly throughout Europe 40,000 to 50,000 years ago.36 Therefore, next to the haplogroups H1, H3 and V, the haplogroup U5 accounts for one of the lineages considered 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

Francigny et al. 2013; Fehren-Schmitz et al. 2010. Hummel 2003: 68–72. Hummel 2003: 69–70. Van Oven 2015. Van Oven & Kayser 2009. Rosa & Brehem 2011: 38. Richards et al. 2000: 1263–1264; Olivieri et al. 2006: 1769.

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to be a post-LGM37 signature.38 The Franco-Cantabrian glacial refuge area in Southern Europe is therefore considered the origin of late glacial surviving lineages of hunters and gatherers, which later on repopulated larger parts of Europe, thus contributing to the mtDNA gene pool of North Africans by crossing the Strait of Gibraltar.39 Furthermore, specific sub clades of U5b were discovered with very low frequencies spread throughout western sub-Saharan Africa.40 This supports the hypothesis of Northern Africans having migrated throughout the Sahara repeatedly, establishing trade links in the process.41

Tab. 5:

The influence of grave type and micro bacterial infestation on aDNA preservation.

In summary, the collected data substantiate the expectancy of a primal African haplogroup. However, further sequencing would not be likely to narrow down the established results due to the many occurrences of apparent polymorphisms or heteroplasmies (see Tab. 4). These miscoding lesions are common artifacts in aDNA sequences since the biochemical structure of the DNA undergoes post mortem damage.42 In the course of statistical studies,43 it has been shown that the high appearance of damage-derived miscoding lesions and decreased fragment sizes44 are characteristics of aDNA sequences. This fact is evaluated as a criterion for authenticity by many authors.45 Still, at this rate of aDNA damage, the much more delicate analysis of autosomal STRs – as described above – led to rather meager results. 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

LGM = Last Glacial Maximum; Richards et al. 2000: 1259. Richards et al. 2000: 1259. Achilli et al. 2004. Rando et al. 1998; Rosa et al. 2004: 348; Cerný et al. 2006: 20. Richards et al. 2000: 1263–1264. Gilbert et al. 2003. Hansen et al. 2001. Malmström et al. 2007: 1003. E.g. Gilbert et al. 2007: 2.

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Summary 15 skeletons were excavated from (Post-) Meroitic to Christian graves of the Wadi Abu Dom, Sudan. Preservation stages varied strongly among the skeletons, revealing a link between grave type and both skeletal as well as aDNA preservation. Overall, skeletal remains from box graves seemed to be better preserved than those from tumuli. Nine male, five female and one non-determinable individual were found, ranging from infans I to senile age classes. Various pathological changes were detected with high frequencies of osteoarthritis (six of ten assessable adult individuals) which always affected the spine and/or the hip joints. Dental pathologies occurred in seven of twelve individuals, most of which suffered from periodontitis. The habitual variation ʻHockfacetteʼ forming at the distal end of the tibiae appeared in four out of ten assessable individuals. Molecular analyses revealed a first insight into population genetics. For seven of the 15 individuals the mt-haplogroup U5, one of the many primal African haplogroups, was determined. The sequences showed many miscoding lesions due to degradation processes in accordance with the ancient character of the DNA. Excavations in the Wadi Abu Dom should proceed in order to put the data at hand into a valid context.

Bibliography Achilli, A., et al. 2004 The Molecular Dissection of mtDNA Haplogroup H Confirms That the Franco-Cantabrian Glacial Refuge Was a Major Source for the European Gene Pool. In: American Journal of Human Genetics 75, 910–918. 2005 Saami and Berbers – An Unexpected Mitochondrial DNA Link. In: American Journal of Human Genetics 76, 883–886. Acsádi, G. & Nemeskéri, J. 1970 History of Human Life Span and Mortality. Budapest. Cerný, V., et al. 2006 MtDNA of Fulani Nomads and Their Genetic Relationships To Neighboring Sedentary Populations. In: Human Biology 78, 9–27. Fehren-Schmitz, L., et al. 2010 Pre-Columbian Population Dynamics in Coastal Southern Peru: A Diachronic Investigation of mtDNA Patterns in the Palpa Region by Ancient DNAAnalysis. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 141, 208–221. Francigny, V., et al. 2013 Limits of Ancient DNA Extraction from Teeth: The Case of Sudanese Nubia. In: Nyame Akuma 79, 13–29.

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Gilbert, M. T. P., et al. 2003 Characterization of Genetic Miscoding Lesions Caused by Postmortem Damage. In: American Journal of Human Genetics 72, 48–61. 2007 Recharacterization of Ancient DNA Miscoding Lesions: Insights in the Era of Sequencing-bySynthesis. In: Nucleic Acids Research 35.1, 1–10. Hansen, A. J., et al. 2001 Statistical Evidence for Miscoding Lesions in Ancient DNA Templates. In: Molecular Biology of Evolution 18.2, 262–265. Herrmann, B., et al. 1990 Prähistorische Anthropologie. Leitfaden der Feld- und Labormethoden. Berlin. Hummel, S. 2003 Ancient DNA Typing. Methods, Strategies and Applications. Berlin. Klepinger, L. L. 2006 Fundamentals of Forensic Anthropology. Hoboken. Lohwasser, A., et al. 2015 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) Kampagne 2015. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 26, 109–122. Malmström, H., et al. 2007 More on Contamination: The Use of Asymmetric Molecular Behavior to Identify Authentic Ancient Human DNA. In: Molecular Biology of Evolution 24.4, 998–1004. Olivieri, A., et al. 2006 The MtDNA Legacy of the Levantine Early Upper Palaeolithic in Africa. In: Science 314, 1767–1770. Ortner, D. J. & Putschar, W. G. 1985 Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains. Washington. Rando, J. C., et al. 1998 Mitochondrial DNA Analysis of Northwest African Populations Reveals Genetic Exchanges with European, Near-Eastern, and Sub-Saharan Populations. In: Annual of Human Genetics 62, 531–550. Raxter, M. H., et al. 2008 Stature Estimation in Ancient Egyptians: A New Technique Based on Anatomical Reconstruction of Stature. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 136, 147–155.

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Richards, M., et al. 2000 Tracing European Founder Lineages in the Near Eastern MtDNA Pool. In: American Journal of Human Genetics 67, 1251–1276. Roberts, C. & Manchester, K. 2010 The Archaeology of Disease. Third Edition. Ithaca/NY. Rosa, A., et al. 2004 MtDNA Profile of West Africa Guineans: Towards a Better Understanding of the Senegambia Region. In: Annual of Human Genetics 68, 340–352. Rosa, A. & Brehem, A. 2011 African Human MtDNA Phylogeography at-a-glance. In: Journal of Anthropological Science 89, 25–58. Schutkowski, H. 1990 Zur Geschlechtsdiagnose von Kinderskeletten: Morphognostische, Metrische und Diskriminanzanalytische Untersuchungen. Dissertation Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. Seidenberg, V., et al. 2012 ANew MiniSTR Heptaplex System for Genetic Fingerprinting ofAncient DNAfromArchaeological Human Bone. In: Journal ofArchaeological Science 39, 3224–3229. http://doi.org/10.1016/j. jas.2012.05.019 (accessed 2017-03-29). Srikanth, V. K., et al. 2005 A Meta-Analysis of Sex Differences Prevalence, Incidence and Severity of Osteoarthritis. In: Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 13, 769–781. Van Oven, M. & Kayser, M. 2009 Updated Comprehensive Phylogenetic Tree of Global Human Mitochondrial DNA Variation. In: Human Mutation 30.2, E386–E394. http://www.phylotree.org. doi:10.1002/humu.20921. (accessed: 2016-12-30). Van Oven, M. 2015 PhyloTree Build 17: Growing the Human Mitochondrial DNA Tree. In: Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 5, e392–e394. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigss.2015.09.155 (accessed: 2017-04-12). Waldron, T. 2009 Palaeopathology. New York.

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Traditional Activities in the Bayuda Desert: A Case Study on Salt and Tar Mohammed Eltoum Mohammed Fadlelmola

Abstract The Bayuda desert is an archaeological area currently explored by different projects revealing various archaeological traces. Some of these ancient traces or practices have an enduring tradition in today’s folk culture. The author joined the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary project working in the Bayuda in 2009. Many activities with long traditions could be observed. Several of them help us to understand the archaeological remains. This paper discusses the traditional salt and tar industries in the Wadi Abu Dom, including the Dar el-Manasir at the 4th Cataract. The historical background as well as the continuity of the trades are important in order to understand the transmission of cultural traditions from past to present. The study demonstrates that salt and tar industries in the Bayuda desert can be considered as one of the main activities of the people for a long time. It seems that from the Post-Meroitic period up to now different techniques but similar usages were common. The environmental context had encouraged the people to develop these activities over a long time. Keywords: Ethnoarchaeology, Bayuda Desert, Salt, Tar, Traditional Technology

Introduction This study aims to shed light on people and cultures of the Bayuda desert and to investigate the archaeology of the Bayuda desert through historical and ethnographical studies. Moreover, it wants to focus on certain traditional activities in the Bayuda and their role in our understanding of ancient traditions. This will help us to better interpret some archaeological phenomena. It is essential to know how the environment influences life and culture and to understand the regional diversities. Folk culture developed over thousands of years. Most of the activities changed entirely, a few continued with simple alterations or developed. In Sudan, a lot of traditional industries emerged long ago and continued, such as the production of beads, tar, salt and other things. These traditional industries emerged in antiquity and continue to the present time. The main tribes living in the Bayuda desert are the Hassania, Hawaweer and Manasir. They mainly live from herding animals. While camels and goats are the most important animals in the Bayuda desert, sheep and cattle are rare. There are no regular farms and a limited cultivation has to be launched during the rainy season. The main crop is sorghum (durra wheat), while vegetables like tomatoes, green cucumber and watermelons are also cultivated. The Bayuda desert hosts the main trade routes between north, south, central and western Sudan and Africa from antiquity to the present day. The local industries are salt, tar and natron production.

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The common use of the salt is for food for animal and human and also as fertilizer. Tar is used as medicines for both human and animals, but the natron is used as medicines and for cooking.

Tar Industry The raw material for tar is the fruit of Citrullus colocynthis, locally called handel, a plant growing in sandy areas in the desert (Fig. 1).1 Its taste is like arid soil, inedible for humans but eatable for some animals like donkeys. It has its origin in the Mediterranean basin and Asia, and it is distributed among the western coast of northern Africa, eastward through the Sahara, Egypt and Sudan until India. The seeds in the spherical fruit are grey and 5 mm long by 3 mm wide (Fig. 2). They are edible, similarly bitter, nutty-flavored, and rich in fat and protein. They are eaten or used as an oilseed.2 Fig. 1: Citrullus colocynthis (photo M. Fadlelmola).

Fig. 2: Seeds of Citrullus colocynthis, and seeds collected in a jeerican for tar production (photo M. Fadlelmola).

1 2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrullus_colocynthis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrullus_colocynthis.

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Fig. 3: The three techniques of tar production in Sudan (drawing M. Fadlelmola & A. Lohwasser).

Tar, locally called qotran, is the main industry in the Bayuda. The author made a survey and interviewed the inhabitants about the methods of qotran production. The people produce qotran in three steps according to the equipment and the material available: First, they collect the green citrullus from the desert and let it dry, then they separate the seeds from the fruits. They keep the seeds in a pottery vessel which has a long neck, and they put this vessel in a small kiln made of mud brick or galoos. They use animal dung for fire, because it needs slow firing. The vessel is put in the upper level of the kiln and the seeds kept in this hot condition will produce qotran in between three or four hours (Fig. 3a). The qotran is then separated and poured into a small bowl. In the second technique, the vessel is put in the kiln chamber and covered with mud for two hours, before filtering the liquid into a small bowl (Fig. 3b). Both techniques are used in the desert by the nomadic people. They use qotran for many functions, e.g. as medication for humans and for animals.3 Moreover, there are many shops for qotran in Khartoum now. The third technique is new and similar to the traditional techniques of date wine production (in local dialect arage). The basic components are a large pottery vessel and the seeds (Fig. 3c). 3

See Mohammed Ali & El Hassan 2015: 549.

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The seeds are put in the vessel and a long bent tube is inserted into the vessel. Then the vessel is covered with mud and put it in a kiln. The tube should be dragged away and covered with cool mud for dripping the tar into a small bowl.

Salt Industry Since antiquity, salt was used for exchanging goods and it represents one of the main valuable materials for trade.4 Salt in the Sudan has already been noted by earlier scholars. Arthur T. Holroyd noted it in the Bayuda,5 and it is also found in the northern Sudan and Kordofan6 as well as in Khartoum, Rufaa and in Central Sudan. Salt was known for a long time and used in food preservation and for culinary purposes. The desert men used to mix salt with water for their animals in order to make them drink a big amount of water being enough to survive for several days. There are many other utilizations of salt. The geological and environmental condition of the Sudan must have permitted considerable possibilities to extract varying types of salt. In the Bayuda, the recorded places for salt industries are located in the Wadi Abu Dom. Salt production represents the main activity of the Manasir tribe. They produce salt from soil in different places and trade their salt to be sold in the other regions of the Sudan. A study of salt industries might reveal important information about the people and their adaptation to the nature.

Fig. 4: Natural source for Natron (photo M. Fadlelmola). 4 5 6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_salt. Holroyd 1837: 187. Elmahi 2000.

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There are three types of salt noted in previous studies of salt in theAtbara RiverArea, Ed-Damer and the west bank of the Nile.7 These types of salt have local names. Al-Dakar means ‘the male’, referring to the main part of the soil. It is used for animals and farming because it has a strong taste. Al-Anatia means the female soil and Al-Hinsha is referring probably to the soil color.8 In the Bayuda, there are many natural sources for salt (Fig. 4), such as Jebel Al-Malha, a mountain containing naturally salt water. It is used for the salt production and provides also good water for drinking. Wadi Umm Own is another natural source for salt in the Bayuda desert. The people there use to keep the natural flowing water in separate open basins (Fig. 5).9 Once the water is evaporated, the upper layer of the soil forms a fresh salted ground, ready for the people to collect and pack for the market. There are also many sites of salt industries in the Western Desert, for example Bir Atron, Selima Oasis, or Darfur in western Sudan.

Fig. 5: Artificial water basin to collect salt (photo M. Fadlelmola).

Discussion In the 4th Cataract area, excavations revealed some seeds of citrullus colocynthis in a vessel in a grave, dating to the Post-Meroitic period.10 Another sample was taken by Ataher Adm Alnoor from the excavation at the Nawa-Ed-Debba street.11 In season 2015, we found a deposit in the Wadi Abu Dom, too. The latter two samples were analysed to verify if it is qotran, but unfortunately they did not produce any result. The traditional cultures of the nomads everywhere in Sudan look similar with regard to different aspects of their life. The Bayuda nomads are a typical case example for the question of using salt and tar, for example for medicinal purposes. The use of salt and tar (qotran) by the nomads started in antiquity and continues to the present time (Fig. 6). 7 8 9 10 11

Elmahi 2000. Elmahi 2000: 49. See in general https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_evaporation_pond. Abbas 2007; Mohammed Ali & El Hassan 2015. Personal communication. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 6: Various vestiges of tar production in the Bayuda (photos M. Fadlelmola).

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Fig. 7: Modern tar-bottles (photo M. Fadlelmola).

Our archaeological and ethnographical survey in the Bayuda has demonstrated the tradition of tar usage in many ways. Many bottles of tar could be found in the existing present-day or traditional houses (Fig. 7). It is obvious that there are various examples of traditional activities not only in the Bayuda desert but in other deserts, too. Therefore, we hope to help ensure the continuation of ancient industries to the present time. The discussion is based on personal observations and oral traditions, however, only little data could be collected and only little literature was available. It might nevertheless be a preliminary endeavour for future researches to follow working on similar topics about Bayuda folk cultures.

Bibliography Elmahi, A. 2000 The Traditional Salt Extraction along the Atbara River, Sudan. In: Adumatu. An Academic Refereed Journal on the Archaeology of the Arab World 2, 43–56. Holroyd, A. 1839 Notes on a Journey to Kordofán, in 1836-7. In: The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London 9, 163–191. Mohammed Ali, A. S. & El Hassan, G. G. A. 2015 Tar: An Ancient Sudanese Curing Treatment. In: Zach, M. H. (ed.), The Kushite World. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Meroitic Studies, Vienna, 1–4 September 2008. Beiträge zur Sudanforschung. Beiheft 9. Wien, 547–550. Abbas, G. J. 2007

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Part II: Bayuda Studies

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The Cemeteries of Ghazali: Season 2015/2016 Joanna A. Ciesielska, Artur Obłuski & Robert J. Stark

Abstract Ghazali, a medieval monastery in Northern Sudan, dated to the 7th – 13th c. AD, is accompanied by three large burial fields that have been excavated since 2015. Over 80 tombs investigated within Cemeteries 1 and 2 exhibit a range of diversity in terms of their architectural form, from simple rock-cut pits topped with rectangular stone cairns to mud-brick mastabas with inscribed funerary stelae and doublevaulted chamber tombs. The location of Cemetery 2, next to the monastic edifices, combined with the demographics of the anthropological sample (64 out of 66 skeletons from the original context belonged to adult males) and epigraphic analysis of Greek and Coptic inscriptions on the stelae, confirm the preliminary identification of the cemetery as a burial ground of the monks inhabiting the monastery, making Ghazali one of only three known sites in medieval Nubia with supposed monastic cemeteries. The fieldwork and writing of the following publication was facilitated by the grant 2014/13/D/HS3/03829 National Science Centre, Poland and Qatar Sudan Archaeological Project QSAP.A.36. Keywords: Monasticism, Nubia, Bioarchaeology, Burial Customs, Christianity, Ghazali

Introduction The archaeological site of Ghazali is located in the Northern Province of Sudan, ca. 20 km southwest of the modern city of Karima, at the entrance to the Wadi Abu Dom in the northwestern fringes of the Bayuda desert. The core of the site, a medieval monastery dated to the 7th – 13th c. AD, has been the focus of research conducted since 2012 within the framework of the Polish-Sudanese Ghazali Archaeological Site Presentation Project (GSAP).1 In the vicinity of the monastery three large burial fields, as well as a small village, were recorded and mapped in the course of the 2012 and 2013 field seasons. Cemetery no. 1, numbering approximately 150 burials, is located a few dozen metres to the west, on an elevation separated from the monastery by the bed of a small wadi. Cemetery no. 3 encompasses over 300 tombs which cover the vicinity of a small village a few hundred metres east of the monastery. At this time, neither the settlement nor the associated cemetery, have been archaeologically investigated. The main focus of study was Cemetery 2, which is considered to be the monastic burial ground. The necropolis encompasses a vast area directly to the south of the monastic edifices. While previously taken aerial photographs showed no more than 100 tombs (Fig. 1), the subsequent initiation of excavation of the area allows an extrapolation, based on the density of tombs uncovered to date, that the original number of burials could actually be in excess of 300 (Fig. 2). 1

Obłuski 2014; Obłuski et al. 2015.

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Fig. 1:

Plan of the area of the Ghazali monastery: Cemetery 1 visible to the west of the monastery, Cemetery 2 to the south, and Cemetery 3 to the south-east.

The excavations conducted during the 2015/2016 field season were the first large-scale investigation of the cemeteries at Ghazali. During his research at Ghazali in the 1950s, Peter Shinnie concentrated his works within the monastic walls.2 One tomb was excavated in Cemetery 2, however, the amount of published data on the location and the tomb itself is rather unsatisfactorily sparse.3 Two tombs at Cemetery 2 were also examined by the Polish mission during the 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 excavation seasons. Proper research began in the autumn of 2015. Over four months of intense fieldwork, 81 tombs were documented, most of them (76 to be exact) in two previously selected sectors of Cemetery 2. In the fall of 2015, the excavation took place in the southern fringes of Cemetery 2, while the second half of the season was devoted to research in the northern part of Cemetery 2. Furthermore, at the end of fieldwork in February 2016, a limited investigation of Cemetery 1 was also conducted. 2 3

Shinnie & Chittick 1961. Shinnie & Chittick 1961, 23–24.

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Aerial photograph of Cemetery 2. The original version of the plan was based on an aerial photograph taken in 2012. After the excavations of 2015/2016 it became quite clear that the original number of tombs in the cemetery was severely underrepresented when estimated based on their surface remains.

Only five tombs were excavated, however this initial research has already revealed significant differences in burial customs in comparison to the monastic burials in Cemetery 2. All tombs, comprising of a funerary monument above ground level and a burial chamber below, were thoroughly documented using traditional methods (e.g. mapping, drawing, measurements using total station), as well as by means of orthophotogrammetry. Amongst the superstructures uncovered in the northern part of Cemetery 2, 17 were left untouched due to their good state of preservation and the presence of in situ funerary stelae, which risked them being com-pletely destroyed during extraction. Burials were initially recorded in situ and excavated by anthropologists, followed by sampling of organic matter for further radiocarbon dating. Human remains were subjected to detailed anthropological analysis. Standard osteological techniques4 were applied for the estimation of age and sex, dental health description, as well as recording of all observed pathological conditions. Additionally, samples of tissue (bone and teeth) were extracted for further isotope examination. A combination of oxygen (δ18O) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope analyses will be used to investigate migration patterns, especially for the monastic community inhabiting the site. Bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr 4

Standard osteological techniques were applied; for the estimation of age, see Ubelaker 1987; Meindl and Lovejoy 1985; Brooks & Suchey 1990; Todd 1920; Lovejoy et al. 1985. For subadult age, see Schaefer et al. 2009, and sources cited therein; Al-Qahtani et al. 2010. For determination of sex, see Buikstra & Ubelaker 1994; Phenice 1969.

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reference data will be derived from animal dental samples obtained during archaeological research conducted within the monastery and from the animals currently inhabiting the Wadi Abu Dom. In addition, stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes will also be used in an attempt to reconstruct monastic diet, especially in comparison with contemporary lay populations in the region. In the long term, the results of such analyses will be a means to acquire a better understanding of living conditions in the Middle Nile valley in the Christian period.

Funerary Architecture The tombs investigated at Ghazali exhibit a range of diversity in terms of their architectural form. Most of the tombs in Cemetery 2 were equipped with superstructures arranged along a NW–SE axis. The dominant superstructure form is the so-called box-grave, taking the shape of a rectangular box of uncut stone (typically ca. 2.5–3.2 by 0.6–1.2 m, ca. 50 cm in height), infilled with earth and gravel (Fig. 3). This type of tomb monument is also the only one recorded at Cemetery 1. The size of single graves remained roughly the same, whilst double adult burials and graves belonging to children were covered with superstructures of larger or smaller dimensions respectively.

Fig. 3:

Tomb no. 8, southern section of Cemetery 2 (Southern Cemetery). The monument represents one of the box-grave type of superstructures, constructed of uncut stone filled in with earth and gravel.

Among the funerary monuments in the northern part of Cemetery 2, a significant amount of mud-brick mastabas was recorded, while the southern part is virtually bereft of such structures. The dominant form of superstructures in the southern part (except the stone box-graves), were one-course high flat rectangular mud-brick pavements (Fig. 4). Surprisingly well-preserved mud-brick mastabas in the northern sector are believed to be the oldest in the cemetery, probably from the end of 7th or beginning of the 8th c. AD. A funerary stela commemorating the deceased © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 4:

Tomb no. 17, southern section of Cemetery 2 (Southern Cemetery). Superstructure in the form of a mud-brick pavement.

Fig. 5:

Tomb no. 112, northern section of Cemetery 2 (Southern Cemetery). Lower half of an inscribed limestone funerary stele preserved in situ.

was set into the western end of the mastaba (Fig. 5).5 Many were lost due to their reuse by monks themselves, robbers’ activity on the site, as well as harsh climatic conditions, however, more than 200 fragments deriving from Ghazali are known at this point.6 A typical stela was made of limestone or fired clay, and inscribed in Coptic or Greek.7 If the surface was whitewashed, 5 6

7

On the use of funerary stelae in Nubia, see Junker 1925. The most significant set of tombstones is stored in the National Museum in Khartoum; inscribed pieces were already published in two volumes: Van Der Vliet 2003: 105–172, Łajtar 2003: 129–155, 158–167. Several other tombstones were collected by the Lepsius expedition (1848) and are now stored in Berlin, see Lepsius 1849, Vol. IV, Pls. 99 & 103. Three pieces were also published by Sergio Donadoni, see Donadoni 1986. Shinnie & Chittick 1961: 23. For more information on the use of Greek and Coptic in Ghazali, especially in funerary context, see Ochała 2014; Ochała forthc.

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the letters were painted red or black; the same applies to the stelae manufactured of white limestone – black letters were more visible against white background. Multiple fragments of stone or terracotta crosses, inscribed with Greek ΖΩΗ and ΦΩΣ8 were also found on the surface of Cemetery 2 and in the debris of excavated superstructures.9

Fig. 6:

Tombs nos. 9–10, southern section of Cemetery 2 (Southern Cemetery). One of the so-called vaulted-tombs of a double variety. A wall raised perpendicularly to the façade divided the entrance shaft in two, enabling asynchronous burials.

The architecture of the subterranean portion of the tomb shows a similar degree of variability.10 Simple shaft-like pits of roughly rectangular outline were the standard, especially in Cemetery 1, where no other types were recorded thus far. In Cemetery 2, occasionally two narrow ledges were cut along the longer sides of the burial shaft, providing support for large stone slabs set across over the body of the deceased. Archaeological investigation in both parts of Cemetery 2 has also revealed the use of more elaborate substructures. The so-called vaulted-tombs (Fig. 6) comprised of a mud-brick vault closed from two sides by walls and entirely covered with a thin layer of mud. Simple cross markings were made by finger in the wet mud around the entrance to the burial chamber. Tombs of this type occurred in a single or double form. A wall 8

For more information on the formula and other known pieces from Nubia, see Tsakos 2011; Leclercq 1939; Peterson 1926; Łajtar 2003: 45, Pl. XLIV; Van Der Vliet 2003: 49. 9 A few fragments are mentioned by Shinnie & Chittick 1961: 23, and also by Łajtar 2003: 155–158. The material recorded since 2012 is being analysed by Grzegorz Ochała from the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw and remains yet to be published. 10 For the tradition of tomb building in Nubia see Obłuski 2011: 525–540.

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was then raised perpendicularly to the façade, dividing the shaft in two. Only three single, and three double tombs of this type have been identified thus far. Mud-brick vaulted substructures were also observed by Reisner at Cemeteries 2 and 3 on Hesa Island,11 Cemetery 5 on Biga Island,12 and Early Christian Cemetery 8 in Shellal.13 Several vaulted tombs of purportedly Late Christian dating (based only on relatively large size of bricks used in the construction) were also identified byAdams at Meinarti14 and at Cemetery 21-R-2 at Kulubnarti.15 However, only a few of those structures were fully excavated and some of the ‘vaulted tombs’ (e.g. Grave 193) represent in fact slot graves covered with two rows of bricks set on their edges to form something of a ‘gable roof’ over the body of the deceased. Two of such graves were identified in Ghazali so far, although they can hardly be called ‘vaulted tombs’. Much more similar to the tombs investigated in Ghazali Cemetery 2 were the ones excavated by Żurawski at a cemetery in Old Dongola, to the north of Kom H (TNH cemetery).16 Virtually identical in architectural outline and construction techniques, the tombs are dated to the Classic Christian period, based on pottery sherds found in and around the grave.17 Among the vaulted tombs identified at Cemetery 2 in Ghazali only one structure, excavated in February 2015, has been firmly dated based on the results of 14C analysis, which yielded a date from the turn of 7th and 8th centuries.18

Burial Customs Single burials were the norm, although in one instance two individuals were buried together. A tomb in the western part of Cemetery 1 contained remains of two adult males interred in the same burial pit. The occurrence of double-vaulted tombs and multiple burials interred therein requires a separate discussion. While the investigation of architectural features points to the fact that both chambers were clearly constructed at the same time, the use of dividing walls between two parts of the shafts permitted for both chambers not to be used simultaneously. Most of the tombs (5 out of 6) contained only one skeleton in each chamber, however two individuals were interred in the southern chamber of Ghz-2-001. In addition, while the skeleton of an adult male was found in situ lying in extended position just inside the doorway (except the cranium, which was completely destroyed by the robbers entering the tomb), the skeletal remains of an adult female were clearly shoved to the back of the chamber to make room for a secondary burial. In accordance with Christian tradition, bodies were orientated roughly E–W,19 extended, with their heads arranged facing west, and hands on pelvis or beside the hips. An arrangement 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Reisner 1910: 91–92, 96–97. Reisner 1910: 102, 106. Reisner 1910: 111–112. Adams 2002: 42. Adams 1999: 36. Żurawski 1999: 205–210. Żurawski 1999: 205–206. The sample was taken from the southern chamber of Ghz-2-001 and examined by Gliwice Radiocarbon Laboratory, Institute of Physics, Silesian University of Technology. 19 Other authors noted a certain degree of variability within this general presumption, see Adams 1999: 10; Welsby 1998: 47.

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of three bricks around the skull, one to each side with a third (or even two) laid across to cover the face was observed in most of the burials (Fig. 7). Occasionally bricks were replaced with stone pieces of similar dimensions. The latter custom was the norm at Cemetery 1, where there is no trace of mud bricks ever being used at the site.20 In two cases large pottery sherds were used to cover the heads of an adult at Cemetery 2 and an infant at Cemetery 1. No use of coffins was observed,21 though one individual was placed on a wooden bier. Bodies of adults and children alike were wrapped in textiles,22 fragments of which were found in multiple burials at Cemetery 2 (Fig. 8) and Cemetery 1. A diverse state of preservation of organic remains in particular tombs was affected by their location within the burial ground. The northern part of Cemetery 2 was slightly sunken in relation to the surrounding ground, rendering it more susceptible to moisture inundation during the rainy season. Alternatively, Cemetery 1, as it is situated on an elevation, exhibited excellent preservation of human remains and textiles alike. Virtually no artefacts have been found in any of the tombs excavated to date at Ghazali.

Fig. 7:

20

21 22

Tomb no. 13, southern section of Cemetery 2 (Southern Cemetery). The head of the individual was flanked with two bricks, with one laid across to cover the face.

It is unclear whether mud bricks or fired (red) bricks were manufactured at the monastery or the finished product was imported from the Nile valley. Large amounts of pottery sherds as well as bricks (produced from the same material) seem to point to a local production, however, no hearths or concentrations of production waste were found in the vicinity. It cannot be said that the practice was absent during Christian period, attested for example by some finds from Soba East, see Cartwright 1998: 267. Some very well-preserved examples were found at multiple sites, see for example Geus et al. 1995: 121.

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Tomb no. 5, southern section of Cemetery 2 (Southern Cemetery). Head of an adult male covered with multiple layers of textiles, some of which might have been burial shrouds.

Human Remains Thus far, the anthropological sample consists of 87 individuals, among them 81 excavated from Cemetery 2 and six excavated from five tombs at Cemetery 1. It is worth noting, however, that 15 burials at Cemetery 2 (13 concentrated in the NE section of the area excavated adjacent to the monastic walls and two child burials dug into earlier tombs in the southern part of the cemetery) do not belong to the original phase of the use of the cemetery. This is indicated by the fact that the burials were dug into some earlier graves, the superstructures thereof, or wedged in between them. Of the 66 adult skeletons from the original context at Cemetery 2, 64 belonged to adult men; in two cases the sex could not be identified. Whereas the sex distribution is quite different for the later burials in the northern section, only nine of which belonged to adults (including one woman), and the remaining six to subadults and children (Fig. 9). The currently available data set for Cemetery 1 is still too small to afford far-reaching conclusions. The skeletons of adult individuals were characterised by relatively low sexual dimorphism, rendering three out of five sets of remains undetermined in terms of sex, while only two were determined male. The individuals appear generally healthful, with arthritic changes in the vertebrae being the most consistently present pathological condition. The dental health of the deceased in contrast was highly variable, with some individuals preserving a youthful appearance of dentition while a large number of individuals analysed show significant tooth wear and pathological alteration, © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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including several cases of abscesses that have created an opening into the maxillary sinus, and a few individuals who are almost completely edentulous. On the other hand, almost no signs of chronic systemic stress (such as enamel hypoplasia or cribra orbitalia), usually suggesting poor nutrition or frequent episodes of disease,23 were to be found in the individuals examined.

Fig. 9:

Demographic structure of analysed skeletal sample from Cemetries 1 and 2.

Conclusions Pre-Christian religions considered death one of the most powerful taboos due to its polluting character. They kept the corpses outside the city and the temples in order to save them from being polluted and regarded the holy as the antithesis of death. The attitude towards death changed drastically with the appearance of Christianity. Christian symbolism of death as a birth was linked to a birth to an eternal, everlasting life. Those who died go to “the bosom of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, with all those that have pleased Him and done His will from the beginning of the world, whence all sorrow, grief, and lamentation are banished”. More or less the same phrase appears frequently in the Nubian epitaphs.24 The best illustration of these words is a wall painting on the northern wall of the northern aisle in the church of Virgin Mary in the Deir Es-Surian, in the Wadi Natrun in Egypt.25 Funerary rituals and architecture in Byzantium depended heavily on early monastic traditions of Palestine where the traditions of commemoration of founders and holy men at their

23 24 25

For comparison with other contemporary Nubian population, see Van Gerven et al. 1995. Van Der Vliet 2011. Innemée et al. 2015: Fig.1.

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tombs first became established.26 Typika of the Middle Byzantine monasteries clearly make commemoration of the deceased monks an important obligation of the monastic community. The wealthy families founded or supported monastic communities in exchange for commemoration of the members of these families in the form of prayers for the souls of the dead.27 Due to the scarcity of textual sources for medieval Nubia we have to rely solely on archaeological evidence to reconstruct Christian burial customs in Nubia. Christian burials at Ghazali and in Nubia in general do not differ from what was present in the other parts of the Christian/Byzantine koine. Tombs are simple in form; the burials are devoid of offerings. The bodies were laid in the same extended position dorsally with hands on pelvis or aside the corpse. They were sometimes wrapped in shrouds and then tied with ropes. The presence of only one gender burials in the original phase of the use of Cemetery 2 and tombstones are the only features that differentiate the Ghazali monastic tombs from the lay ones. Cemeteries located in the vicinity of monasteries were excavated at two other locations in Nubia. The first is the Qasr el-Wizz monastery on the outskirts of Faras, capital of the Kingdom of Nobadia, and the other the monastery on Kom H situated on the north-eastern fringes of Dongola, capital agglomeration of the kingdom of Makuria. In the latter, Bogdan Żurawski excavated several tombs west and north-west of the monastery proper.28 The most striking difference from the Ghazali burials is that these contained multiple bodies, a characteristic feature of monastic tombs at Qasr el-Wizz29 as well as two lay cemeteries on the political border of Nubia: Biga30 and Hesa Islands.31 Another feature of the Ghazali burials recorded at other sites in Nubia is a head shelter, housing the head of the deceased. It was a special concern of monastic community, since in each and every case the head was protected in this way. In the lay cemeteries in Nubia it was also a common tradition yet not universal. The examples come mostly from the Northern Nubia but it is probably a bias caused by the paucity of excavations of Christian cemeteries south of the 3rd Nile Cataract: Meinarti, Serra East, Kubanieh South, Biga Island, Sayala or Gemmai.32 Subjected to the most intense research, Cemetery 2 is believed to be the burial place of the monks inhabiting the Ghazali monastery. The data collected thus far seems to confirm this hypothesis. This particular burial field is located in the immediate vicinity of the monastic edifices, having a separate doorway leading to the cemetery through the southern wall. Meanwhile, Cemetery 3 was probably used by the community inhabiting the nearby village. The role of Cemetery 1 remains somewhat unclear, although the presence of regularly arranged rows of graves belonging to both adults and children, would suggest that we are dealing with a secular population. Since the residents of the village nearby were provided with their own burial field, it seems quite likely that the Cemetery 1 necropolis belonged to the members of communities inhabiting small villages along Wadi Abu Dom, or settlements in the Nile valley, who wanted to be buried near the monastery and its church. 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Connor 1991: 91. Gautier 1984: 40–42, 114–115. Żurawski 1999: 240. Obłuski forthc. Smith & Jones 1910: 41–65. Reisner 1910: 96–97. For thorough analysis see Obłuski forthc.

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Bibliography Adams, W. Y. 1999 The Graves. In: Adams, W. Y., Adams, N. K., Van Gerven, D. P. & Greene, D. L., Kulubnarti III. The Cemeteries. Sudan Archaeological Research Society Publication 4. British Archaeological Reports International Series 814. London, 7–49. 2002 Meinarti III. The Late and Terminal Christian Phases. London. Adams, W. Y., Adams N. K., Van Gerven, D. P. & Greene, D. L. 1999 Kulubnarti III. The Cemeteries. Sudan Archaeological Research Society Publication 4, British Archaeological Reports International Series 814. London. Brooks S. & Suchey, J. M. 1990 Skeletal Age Determination based on the os pubis: A Comparison of the Acsadi-Nemeskeri and Suchey-Brooks Methods. In: Human Evolution 5, 227–238. Buikstra J. E. & Ubelaker, D. H. 1994 Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Fayetteville. Cartwright, C. 1998 The Wood, Charcoal, Plant Remains and Other Organic Material. In: Welsby, D. A., Soba II. Renewed Excavations within the Metropolis of the Kingdom of Alwa in Central Sudan, British Institute in Eastern Africa Memoir 15. London, 255–268. Connor, C. L. 1991 Art and Miracles in Medieval Byzantium. The Crypt at Hosios Loukas and its Frescoes. Princeton. Donadoni, S. 1986 Trois nouvelles steles de Ghazali. In: Krause, M. (ed.), Nubische Studien. Tagungsakten der 5. internationalen Konferenz der International Society for Nubian Studies. Mainz, 223–230. Gautier, P. 1984 Le typikon de sébaste Grégoire Pakourianos. In: Revue des Etudes Byzantines 42, 5–145 Geus F., Lecointe, Y. & Maureille, B. 1995 Tombes napatéennes, méroïtiques et médiévales de la nécropole Nord de l’île de Saï. Rapport préliminaire de la campagne 1994–1995. In: Archéologie du Nil Moyen 7, 99–141. Innemée, K., Ochała, G. & Van Rompay, L. 2015 A Memorial for Abbot Maqari of Deir al-Surian (Egypt). Wall Paintings and Inscriptions in the Church of the Virgin Discovered in 2014. In: Hugoye. Journal of Syriac Studies 18.1, 147–190. Junker, H. 1925 Die christlichen Grabsteine Nubiens. In: Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 60, 111–148.

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Leclercq, H. 1939 Phos-Zoé. In: Dictionnaire d’Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie 14.1, 756–758. Lepsius, R. 1849 Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien. Nach den Zeichnungen der von seiner Majestät dem König von Preussen Friedrich Wilhelm IV nach diesen Ländern gesendeten und in den Jahren 1842–1845 ausgeführten wissenschaftlichen Expedition auf Befehl seiner Majestät. Berlin. Lovejoy C. O., Meindl, R. S., Pryzbeck, T. R. & Mensforth, R. P. 1985 Chronological Metamorphosis of the Auricular Surface of the Ilium. A New Method for the Determination of Adult Skeletal Age at Death. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 68, 15–28. Łajtar, A. 2003 Catalogue of the Greek Inscriptions in the Sudan National Museum at Khartoum. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 122. Leuven. Meindl, R. S. & Lovejoy, C. O. 1985 Ectocranial Suture Closure. A Revised Method for the Determination of Skeletal Age at Death based on the Lateral-Anterior Sutures. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 68.1, 57–66. Obłuski, A. 2014a The Rise of Nobadia. Social Changes in Northern Nubia in Late Antiquity. The Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplements 20. Warsaw. 2014b Ghazali Site Presentation Project 2012–2014. Preliminary Results. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 197–204. Obłuski, A., Ochała, G., Bogacki, M., Małkowski, W., Maślak, S. & Ed-Din Mahmoud, Z. 2015 Ghazali 2012. Preliminary Report. In: Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 24.1, 431–439. Obłuski, A. (ed.) forthc. Excavations at Qasr el-Wizz. The University of Chicago Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition 15. Chicago. Ochała, G. 2014 Multilingualism in Christian Nubia: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. In: Dotawo. A Journal of Nubian Studies 1, 1–50. forthc. Multilingualism in Christian Nubia. A Case Study of the Monastery of Ghazali (Sudan), Proceedings of the 27th International Congress of Papyrology. Warsaw, 29 July–3 August 2013. Warsaw, 1265–1283. Peterson, E. 1926 φωϛ-ζωή. Epigraphische, formgeschichtliche und religionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen. Göttingen.

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Phenice, T. W. 1969 A Newly Developed Visual Method of Sexing in the os pubis. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 30, 297–301. Al-Qahtani, S. J., Hector, M. P. & Liversidge, H. M. 2010 Brief Communication. The London Atlas of Human Tooth Development and Eruption. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 142, 481–490. Reisner, G. A. 1910 The Archaeological Survey of Nubia. Report for 1907–1908. Volume I: Archaeological Report. Cairo. Shaefer, M., Black, S. & Scheuer, L. 2009 Juvenile Osteology. A Laboratory and Field Manual. Amsterdam. Shinnie, P. L. & Chittick, H. N. 1961 Ghazali. A Monastery in the Northern Sudan. Sudan Antiquities Service Occasional Papers 5. Khartoum. Shinnie, P. L. 1974 Multilingualism in Medieval Nubia. In: Abdalla, A. M. (ed.), Studies in Ancient Languages of the Sudan. Papers Presented at the Second International Conference on «Language and Literature in the Sudan» sponsored by the Sudan Research Unit. 7–12 December 1970. Khartoum, 41–47. Smith, G. E. & Jones, F. W. 1910 The Archæological Survey of Nubia. Report for 1907–1908. Volume II: Report on the Human Remains. Cairo. Todd, T. W. 1920 Age Changes in the Pubic Bone. I. The White Male Pubis. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 3, 285–334. Tsakos, A. 2010 Terracotta funerary stelae from Christian Nubia . In: Godlewski W. & Łajtar, A. (eds.), Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th Conference of Nubian Studies, Warsaw University, 27 August–2 September 2006. II.2. Session Papers. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean Supplement Series 2.2/2. Warsaw, 683–694. 2011 Sepulchral Crosses from Nubia with the φωϛ-ζωή Acclamation. In: Łajtar, A. & Van der Vliet, J. (eds.), Nubian Voices. Studies in Nubian Christian Civilization. Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplements 15. Warsaw, 157–170. Ubelaker, D. H. 1987 Estimating Age at Death from Immature Human Skeletons. An Overview. In: Journal of Forensic Sciences 32, 1254–1263.

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Van der Vliet, J. 2003 Catalogue of the Coptic Inscriptions in the Sudan National Museum at Khartoum. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 121. Leuven. 2011 What is Man?. The Nubian Tradition of Coptic Funerary Inscriptions. In: Lajtar A. & Van der Vliet, J. (eds.), Nubian Voices. Studies in Christian Nubian Culture. Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplements 15. Warsaw, 171–224. Van Gerven, D. P., Sheridan, S. G. & Adams, W. Y. 1995 The Health and Nutrition of a Medieval Nubian Population. The Impact of Political and Economic Change. In: American Anthropologist. New Series 97.3, 468–480. Welsby, D. A. 1998 Soba II. Renewed Excavations within the Metropolis of the Kingdom of Alwa in Central Sudan. British Institute in Eastern Africa Memoir 15. London. Żurawski, B. 1999 The Monastery on Kom H in Old Dongola. The Monks’Graves.APreliminary Report. In: Nubica et Aethiopica 4/5, 201–253.

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Cemetery 4 at Ghazali (Sudan): Excavations During the Fall 2016 Season Robert J. Stark & Joanna A. Ciesielska

Abstract Excavations at the medieval monastic complex of Ghazali, Sudan (ca. 7th–13th c. AD) were initiated in 2012 by the mission of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology (PCMA) led by Artur Obłuski. Along with the monastic complex at Ghazali, there are three cemeteries (nos. 1–3), a poorly preserved settlement, an iron smelting complex, and a fourth isolated cemetery, referred to as Cemetery 4. Cemetery 4, excavated in cooperation with the W.A.D.I. project, was surveyed in the fall of 2016 revealing the existence of an estimated 15 graves of box-grave design, five of which were chosen for excavation. Preliminary analysis of architectural features and associated human remains correspond with a typical Christian burial style, although the presence of several atypical burials, including one commingled burial, brings into question the function of this cemetery. Keywords: Ghazali, Christian Nubia, Monasticism, Christian Cemetery, Bioarchaeology

Introduction The archaeological site of Ghazali (18°26’N 31°56’E) is located in the Northern Province of Sudan, ca. 20 km southwest of the modern city of Karima, at the entrance to the Wadi Abu Dom, which formed part of an ancient roadway crossing the desert on its way to Meroe. Initial archaeological investigation at Ghazali was conducted in the 1950s by a team led by Peter Shinnie and Neville Chittick.1 Following the investigations of Shinnie and Chittick, the medieval monastery at Ghazali has been thoroughly studied for several seasons, beginning in 2012, by the mission of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology (PCMA) led by Artur Obłuski.2 Being one of only a few known examples of monastic architecture in medieval Makuria, Ghazali presents a rare opportunity to study the full range of its past activities. In the preliminary phase of research, the vicinity of the monastery was thoroughly examined revealing the existence of three large burial fields (Cemeteries 1–3), as well as a small village, and remains of multiple iron-smelting sites surrounded by excessive amounts of slag. A fourth cemetery (Cemetery 4) was mapped during kite aerial photography in 2012. The Western Bayuda has been the subject of intense survey by the Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.) project with particular focus on the role of the Wadi Abu Dom as part of a route between Meroe and Napata. Since 2009, the W.A.D.I. team from the Institute of Egyptology 1 2

Shinnie & Chittick 1961. Obłuski 2014; Obłuski et al. 2015; Obłuski & Ochała 2016.

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and Coptology of Münster University, led by Angelika Lohwasser, has been gradually surveying the wadi and mapping archaeological sites found therein.3 The W.A.D.I. project concession covers the vast majority of the Wadi Abu Dom region. Henceforth, Cemetery 4 at Ghazali was excavated in cooperation with the W.A.D.I. project.

Fig. 1:

View of the burial superstructures evident in Cemetery 4. In the upper two images, looking north, the preserved architectural remains of the Ghazali monastic complex can just barely be seen in the background (photos J. Ciesielska & R. Stark).

Excavation of the Cemeteries at Ghazali Archaeological research conducted at Ghazali by the Polish team during the 2015/2016 field seasons was the first large-scale excavation of the cemeteries at this site. During the fall 2015 field season, Cemetery 2, believed to be the monastic burial ground, was the main focus of research. Excavation was subsequently continued in the winter and fall of 2016 at Cemetery 1, located to the north-west of the monastic edifices and possibly containing individuals who wished to be buried ad sanctos, and Cemetery 3, being associated with the nearby settlement site to the south-west of the Ghazali monastic complex. The last week of fieldwork during the fall 2016 field season was devoted to the investigation of a small cluster of approximately 15 tombs evident from the surface, identified as Cemetery 4. Cemetery 4 is located ~200 m south of Cemetery 2 and is separated by unaltered land and isolated in its location from the larger burial grounds of Cemeteries 1–3 and surrounding monastic and settlement complexes. 3

Lohwasser 2009; 2010a; 2010b; 2011; 2012; Lohwasser & Karberg 2012; 2013; Lohwasser et al. 2015.

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Cemetery 4 is in proximity to no apparent structures, bringing into question the purpose and function of this remote cemetery (Fig. 1). Given the presence of male (n=5), female (n=4), and subadult (n=2) burials in Cemetery 4 (see Tab. 1) it is unlikely that this cemetery was associated with or in some way an extension of the proposed monastic cemetery at Cemetery 2 where, as was expected, an overwhelming majority of the burials belong to males.4 Total station measurements of the 15 evident graves identified by the PCMA mission in Cemetery 4 were taken during the fall 2016 field season, though at the time of this publication the graves had yet to be integrated into the larger site map of Ghazali.

Tab. 1:

4

Graves excavated in fall 2016 from Cemetery 4 (Ghz-4) at Ghazali. Stature estimates based on the formulae presented in Raxter et al. 2008, 1maximum length of femur, 2maximum length of humerus, and 3maximum length of tibia measured from the lateral condyle. Age and sex estimates were derived based on the methods compiled in Buikstra & Ubelaker 1994. S/A = subadult, ? = probable sex identification; for subadults ʻdentalʼ refers to the estimated age of the individual based on dental development, while ʻlong boneʼ refers to the estimated age of the individual based on the developmental length of the diaphysis (Subadult age estimations were derived from the methods compiled in Schaefer et al. 2009 and AlQahtani et al. 2010). Sex estimation is not possible for sub-adults, while stature estimates have not been provided for subadults due to the variability in growth plate dynamics associated with rapid growth in this age range (Lewis 2007; Iscan & Steyn 2013).

Ciesielska et al. in this volume.

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Cemetery 4 at Ghazali (Ghz-4) The graves evident in Cemetery 4 were given the designator Ghz-4. There are three apparent clusters of graves based on preserved superstructures, with graves oriented in north-south rows on an east-west axis. Beginning at the northern extent of Cemetery 4 there is a cluster of four graves evident (Ghz-4-001 to 004). Around 7 m south of this cluster of four burials there are two rows separated by approximately 5 m respectively situated south-west and south-east of burials Ghz-4-001 to 004. The south-east cluster contains graves Ghz-4-005 to 012, while the remaining graves visible in the south-west cluster contain graves Ghz-4-013 to 015. Grave Ghz-4-005 had been previously disturbed, likely in an attempt at looting, with the skeletal elements of the individual buried therein dispersed around the circumference of the grave shaft and as such was not further excavated by the PCMA mission. Superstructures of the graves in Cemetery 4 conform with the box-grave style typical of Christian Nubia, being built of a series of large rocks around the periphery of the grave outline with a central ʻcoreʼ variably composed of a mixture of larger rocks, pebbles, and sand creating a structure roughly the size of the underlying grave shaft (see Tab. 1).5 Excavation in Cemetery 4 was initiated at the southern extent of the south-eastern cluster of graves. Five graves (Ghz-4-006, 007, 008, 009, and 010) were selected for initial excavation. After cleaning the area for excavation, it became evident that in-between these five graves there were two subadult’s graves (Ghz-4-011 and 012), and that in two of the graves (Ghz-4-008 and 006) multiple superstructures abutted without space in-between to initially differentiate them. Burials in the respective graves were for the most part consistent with standard Christian burial practices in Nubia, with the individuals heads to the west, bodies extended in a supine position, arms either by the side, placed palm down over the pelvis, or bent across the chest. Legs were either crossed at the level of the tibia, ankles, or metatarsals, or were simply side by side. Head covers consisted of larger stones, with two stones situated on either side of the skull and a third stone spanning across the face (Fig. 2). Preserved fabrics indicate that these individuals were shrouded for burial. There is no evidence of coffins or funeral biers present in these graves, nor were any grave goods present in any of the burials excavated. No tombstones were identified from the burials excavated to date in Cemetery 4. In the case of Ghz-4-006, the presence of what was believed to be a large single superstructure suggested the potential of a multiple burial. After cleaning of surface debris around this tomb it was determined that this is not in fact a singular superstructure, but in reality three individual box grave superstructures placed directly against one another with no space in between. The burials contained in these three abutting superstructures were given the indicators Ghz-4-006.1, 006.2, and 006.3. It is unclear why these three particular tombs were placed so close together, particularly considering the abundant space available in the vicinity. The close proximity of the burials, with the superstructures abutting, may suggest an association between these burials. It is possible that all three individuals were deceased and buried at similar times and the shafts dug particularly close before the superstructures were built over top. It is also possible that Cemetery 4 was originally intended for more extensive use and thus the burials were closely spaced in order to reserve room for later burials and maintain a uniform layout. 5

Borcowski & Welsby 2012.

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Initially Ghz-4-008 was thought to be a multiple burial, based on what appeared to be a large singularsuperstructure.Duringdeconstruction of the superstructure, it became apparent that there were two abutting superstructures placed respectively over two separate grave shafts (Ghz-4-008.1, and 008.2). It may also be that these two individuals were deceased at similar times and their graves placed in very close proximity, though this is not the only possible explanation. The burial of Ghz-4-008.1 is confounding. The skeletal remains of this individual are laid out in the typical extended supine position with a head cover at the western end of the grave shaft. Yet, underneath the head cover no skull was present.There is no apparent trauma or visible evidence of cut marks on the cervical vertebrae, which one might expect if the skull was removed before decomposition was complete. This individual also has what appears to be sharp force trauma to the left ulna with the area of the olecranon having been sheared completely off at a slightly superiorly directed angle (Fig. 3-D). There is another area of apparent sharp force trauma with associated bone tear, also referred to as delamination, along the posterior midshaft of the left ulna, where an apparent Fig. 2: Burial of Ghz-4-006.1, a typical Christian style burial at Ghazali, being in supine blow has created a chipped indentation in the position with the head of the individual diaphysis (Fig. 3-B). Lastly, two proximal right at the western end of the grave and being phalanges show cut marks. The dorsolateral covered by a stone head cover. The left margin of a right proximal phalanx has arm is by the side while the right arm is evidence of sharp force trauma at midshaft in palm down over the pelvis and the legs are the form of a cut mark and associated partial crossed at the level of the mid-tibia (photo bone splintering, evidently resulting from the R. Stark). impact of this traumatic injury (Fig. 3-C). Another right proximal phalanx has a shallow cut mark on the dorsolateral margin slightly inferior to the distal articular surface where the proximal and intermediate phalanges articulate. These traumatic injuries are smooth and based on visual inspection appear to have been achieved by a chopping/cutting rather than a sawing action at some point perimortem. There is no evidence of osteoblastic new bone or reaction and coupled with the uniform colouration of the bone and smooth nature of the trauma these injuries appear consistent with perimortem rather than ante- or postmortem alterations of the bone.6 6

Moraitis & Spiliopoulou 2006; Sauer 1998.

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Fig. 3:

Robert J. Stark, Joanna A. Ciesielska

Evidence of apparent perimortem sharp force trauma from several graves in Cemetery 4: A) three cut marks evident on the posterolateral midshaft of the left humerus of Ghz-4-009; B) cut marks on the posterolateral midshaft of the left ulna of Ghz-4-008.1 showing evidence of bone tearing suggesting the sharp force traumatic injury occurred while the bone was still in a green state; C) cut mark and associated partial bone splintering evident along the dorsolateral margin of a right proximal phalanx of Ghz-4-008.1; D) evidence of sharp force trauma resulting in the shearing off of the olecranon of the left ulna of Ghz-4-008.1 (photos J. Ciesielska).

A number of the burials excavated from Cemetery 4 were atypical within the larger variation of graves excavated to date at Ghazali. Ghz-4-009 is the first and to date only comingled grave (MNI = 2, based on two left os coxae) that has been identified at Ghazali. This atypically short burial of at least two individuals was initially expected to contain the remains of a subadult individual but upon excavation was found to contain a pile of semi-disarticulated adult skeletal elements at the abnormally shallow depth of 26 cm to bedrock bottom. Skeletal elements in this burial were concentrated in a small oval shaped indentation area in the middle of the grave, with the grave shaft being significantly larger than the burial interred within. The ventrally interred (i.e. face down) vertebral column remained articulated with the right femur being placed directly next to it, underneath the originally articulated pelvis, such that the femoral head was in line with the mid-cervical vertebrae (Fig. 4-A). The only skull recovered from this burial was identified after removal of the largely articulated vertebral column, being covered by a layer of sand underneath the femur and vertebrae (Fig. 4-B). It is further curious in the case of Ghz-4-009 as only select skeletal elements were present, namely the long bones of the arms and legs, vertebral column, os coxae, and a single adult skull. What is most intriguing about this comingled burial is the presence of a series of shallow perimortem cut marks, being on average about 1–2 cm in length, respectively on the superior right ulna, just below the olecranon area on the posterior surface, two faint cut marks on the distal posterolateral © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Atypical burials in Cemetery 4: A) burial of Ghz-4-009, note the ventral (face down) orientation of the pelvis and vertebrae and the positon of the right femur directly adjacent to the articulated vertebrae; B) burial of Ghz-4-009, showing the position of the one skull present in this burial interred directly below the articulated vertebral column; C) burial of Ghz-4-007 showing the knees bent towards the north of the grave shaft; D) burial of Ghz-4-010 showing the semi-flexed and seemingly haphazard placement of this individual within the grave shaft (photos R. Stark & J. Ciesielska).

right radius, and three cut marks at midshaft on the posterolateral aspect of the left humerus (Fig. 3-A). The nature of these cut marks on the diaphyses of the arms, being short, shallow, and singular, do not appear consistent with animal bite marks, scavenging, or other taphonomic alterations.7 Furthermore, the skeletal remains identified within Ghz-4-009, though not fully articulated in anatomical position, were identified in a sealed context with no evidence of post-depositional disturbance, again suggesting that taphonomic alteration is not a likely explanation. It is possible that these perimortem cut marks were the result of intervention to disarticulate the remains. It is also possible, including the cut marks on Ghz-4-008.1, that these cut marks may have been sustained in a violent encounter. Considering the concentration of cut marks on the diaphyses of the arms the potential of a violent origin is a definite possibility, especially in regard to the cut marks on the posterolateral aspects of the ulnae where defensive blows are likely. 7

Haglund et al. 1988; Haglund 1992; Bello et al. 2016.

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Two graves (Ghz-4-007 and 010) are atypical in terms of the position of the body within the grave. Though the respective grave shafts are sufficiently long enough to accommodate the individuals in a fully extended supine position, these two individuals have been placed in semi-flexed positions within the respective grave shafts, with space left by the feet in the case of Ghz-4-007, and at the head and feet in Ghz-4-010 as a result of the bodies not being fully extended.8 In the case of Ghz-4-007 this position, where the knees are bent towards the northern margin of the grave shaft, is minor and may in reality be a factor of decomposition, though similarly bent knees have not been observed elsewhere at Ghazali. Aside for the abnormally bent knees, Ghz-4-007 is extended and supine, with a head cover of stone and right arm bent across the chest and the left arm at the side (Fig. 4-C). Turning to Ghz-4-010, the burial appears almost haphazard. Both legs are bent at near 45° angles and positioned such that the left leg is nestled underneath the right leg with both legs leaning against the southern border of the grave shaft. The torso is partly rotated onto the right side with the body semi-flexed and the absence of a head cover. The arm position of Ghz-4-010 is also atypical with the left arm across the chest while the right arm is bent fully up over the top of the skull with the elbow positioned at almost the same level as the chin (Fig. 4-D). The position of this individual within the grave shaft suggests a lack of concern with the position of interment and a rapid introduction of the body into the grave shaft, perhaps indicating a need for haste in burial. It is unclear why such lack of presentation in burial was undertaken for Ghz-4-010, perhaps this individual’s demise was rapid and fear of contamination was a factor. It is also possible that this individual for some reason was viewed as aberrant, resulting in little concern with funeral norms. These are but two un-confirmable hypotheses, though given the effort to dig a complete grave shaft and to create a superstructure to indicate the position of the grave it would seem that the prior argument of rapid demise and fear of contagion, or a similar scenario, is a more likely scenario than the latter.

Discussion and Conclusions The burials excavated to date from Cemetery 4 (Ghz-4) at Ghazali are an unclear mixture of normative and abnormal graves within the larger variation of Christian burial styles represented at Ghazali. The isolated location and relatively small number of burials in Cemetery 4 bring into question the function of this cemetery in the area of Ghazali settlement complexes. The nature of commemoration and the singular burials in Cemetery 4 suggest that burial was not particularly motivated by a pathology outbreak, such as plague or cholera where one would usually expect more individuals and the use of larger pits or multiple burials, as it does not appear that burials in this area were crafted with any greater sense of urgency or expediency than in the other three cemeteries at Ghazali. The presence of three clusters of burials may suggest that this cemetery was used over an extended period of time. It may also suggest that, given the relatively small number of burials identified in Cemetery 4, that these three clusters represent specific sub-groups, perhaps related by kinship or social position. Neither of these assertions can be confirmed at this time, yet the distribution of graves into three seemingly distinct clusters does bring up questions of temporality and purpose. It is possible that this burial ground was 8

Burial terminology after Sprague 2005.

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used for individuals who died of pathological conditions viewed as particularly threatening to the community or, given the instances of sharp force trauma documented, died violent deaths. It also remains possible that these burials represent the burials of individuals unfit for inhumation in the larger cemeteries, though given the ~15 graves apparent in comparison to the ~1000 to 2000 graves proposed by Shinnie and Chittick as being present in Cemeteries 1–3 this would seem like a very small proportion of individuals (i.e. ~0.75 % to 1.5 %). Aside from speculation, at the present time it remains uncertain what Cemetery 4 was originally utilized for. There is clear premeditation in the use of this space for burial but aside from this observation the original purpose of this burial ground remains unclear at the present time, though it is hoped that continued excavation in Cemetery 4 will provide further insight to the original purpose of this area of burial within the lager Ghazali community.

Acknowledgments The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology (PCMA) project at Ghazali is sponsored by the Qatar-Sudan Archaeological Project (QSAP) and is directed by Artur Obłuski in cooperation with the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM), Sudan. We would like to thank Zaki ed-Din Mohamoud and Adrian Chlebowski (for his assistance in total station mapping), as well as all of our colleagues involved with the ongoing Ghazali project. We would also like to thank Angelika Lohwasser, Tim Karberg, and the organizing and publishing committee of the Archaeological Bayuda Conference.

Bibliography AlQahtani, S. J., Hector, M. P. & Liversidge, H. M. 2010 Brief Communication: The London Atlas of Human Tooth Development and Eruption. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 142, 481–490. Bello, D. M., Wallduck, R., Dimitrijevic, V., Zivaljevic, I. & Stringer, C. B. 2016 Cannibalism Versus Funerary Defleshing and Disarticulation after a Period of Decay: Comparisons of Bone Modifications from Four Prehistoric Sites. In: American Journal of Physical Anthropology 161, 722–743. Borcowski Z. & Welsby, D. 2012 The Merowe Dam Archaeological Salvage Project: Provisional Type Series of Monuments. In: MDASP Type Series (Version December 2012). Buikstra, J. E. & Ubelaker, D. H. (eds.) 1994 Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Proceedings of a Seminar at the Field Museum of Natural History, Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research Series Report 44, Fayetteville.

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Haglund, W. D. 1992 Contribution of Rodents to Postmortem Artifacts of Bone and Soft Tissue. In: Journal of Forensic Sciences 37, 1459–1465. Haglund, W. D., Reay, D. T. & Swindler, D. R. 1988 Tooth Mark Artifacts and Survival of Bones in Animal Scaveneged Human Skeletons. In: Journal of Forensic Sciences 33, 985–997. Iscan, M. Y. & Steyn, M. 2013 The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine, 3rd ed., Springfield. Lewis, M. 2007 The Bioarchaeology of Children: Perspectives from Biological and Forensic Anthropology, Cambridge. Lohwasser, A. 2009 Ein archäologischer Survey an der Mündung des Wadi Abu Dom, Bayuda. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 20, 101–115. 2010a Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2010. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 21, 37–50. 2010b The Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (WADI). Preliminary campaign 2009. In: Gdansk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7, 85–92. 2011 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2011. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 59–68. 2012 A Survey in the Western Bayuda: The Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary Project (W.A.D.I.). In: Sudan & Nubia 16, 109–117. Lohwasser, A. & Karberg, T. 2012 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2012. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 23, 35–46. 2013 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2013. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 24, 39–50. Lohwasser, A., Eger, J. & Karberg, T. 2015 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2015. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 26, 109–122. Moraitis, K. & Spiliopoulou, C. 2006 Identification and Differential Diagnosis of Perimortem Blunt Force Trauma in Tubular Long Bones. In: Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology 2, 221–229. Obłuski, A., Ochała, G., Bogacki, M., Małkowski, W., Maślak, S. & Ed-Din Mahmoud, Z. 2015 Ghazali 2012. Preliminary Report. In: Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 24.1, 431–442.

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Obłuski, A. 2014 Ghazali Site Presentation Project 2012-2014 preliminary results. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 197–204. Obłuski, A. & Ochała, G. 2016 La redécouverte d’un monastère nubien: premiers résultats des fouilles polonaises à Ghazali, Ouadi Abu Dom. In: Boud’hors A. & Louis, C. (eds.), Études coptes XIV. Seizième journée d’études (Genève, 19–21 juin 2013). Cahiers de la Bibliothèque copte 21, Paris, 63–79. Sauer, N. J. 1998 The Timing of Injuries and Manner of Death: Distinguishing among Antemortem, Perimortem, and Postmortem Trauma. In: Reichs, K. J. (ed.), Forensic Osteology: Advances in the Identification of Human Remains, 2nd ed., Springfield 1998, 321–332. Schaefer, M., Black, S. & Scheuer, L. 2009 Juvenile Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual, Amsterdam. Shinnie, P. L. & Chittick, H. N. 1961 Ghazali. A Monastery in the Northern Sudan. Sudan Antiquities Service Occasional Papers No. 5, Khartoum. Sprague, R. 2005 Burial Terminology: A Guide for Researchers, Lanham.

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The Western Bayuda Desert at the End of the 3rd and During the 2nd Millennium BC: Archaeological Heritage Henryk Paner

Abstract Since 2009, nearly 900 previously unknown archaeological sites have been recorded in an area of around 20,000 square kilometers. More than 120 of them have been classified as belonging to the Old Kush period. The majority of them yielded archaeological materials, mainly pottery relating to the Kerma Culture. These sites form several clusters, all of which are located on slopes and tops of rocky eleva-tions. In light of the current state of research, the presence of the Kerma Culture in the Bayuda desert seems to be confirmed for the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Nearly 15 % of the sites discovered in the Bayuda desert can be associated with the Kerma Culture and only 10–12 % of them can be identified as small settlements or camps, while all others are cemeteries with superstructures made of stones. So, the boundaries of the impact of the Kerma Culture can now be set up for about 120 km south and south-east from Karima. During the New Kingdom and Napatan periods, new forms of burial appear: the so-called Dome, Semi-Dome, Crevice and Tunnel Graves. Their origin and association with cultural traditions in this part of the world still remain a mystery, though in the near future we will try to solve it. On the other hand, one can say for sure, that settlement activity in the Bayuda desert is much less intense during the Kingdom of Napata than in the days of the Kingdom of Kerma. Practically, we do not know the large settlements of that time, and also cemeteries are generally limited to individual graves. This means that during this time the economic importance of this part of Nubia was maybe significantly limited due to an adverse climatic situation. This situation might have continued until the time of the Kingdom of Meroe. Keywords: Sudan, Nubia, Bayuda Desert, Bayuda Project, Kerma Culture, Old Kush Period

Since 2009, the Gdańsk Archaeological Museum Expedition (GAME) has been carrying out a reconnaissance and survey mission in the Bayuda desert (ʻBayuda Projectʼ), combined with test trenches and excavations at archaeological sites most threatened by the destruction caused by nature or by man.1 The aim of the project’s first phase is to conduct an initial reconnaissance of the region in order to establish a general image of its settlement history. After analysing satellite images and photos taken by kite, selected areas are surveyed in greater detail. The results of such a survey provide the basis for mapping the archaeological heritage of the different regions of the Bayuda desert. This phase of work was planned to take place over a period of seven to eight years, but after five seasons of our investigations in the Bayuda 1

Paner & Pudło 2010: 117–129. All archaeological sites registered by the Bayuda Project were given the prefix BP.

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desert, it should be noted that it would be very difficult to keep this appointment due to the much larger density of archaeological sites in this area than previously assumed. One of the most important results of this project will be the first identification of the settlement history of the Bayuda desert on such a large scale, and it can be assumed that although this is a very general study, it will allow us to estimate not only the archaeological heritage of the Bayuda desert, but also the dangers for this heritage posed by human activity. As László Török wrote in one of his works, “Earlier students of Nubian history when speaking about the Nubian-Egyptian frontier were concerned about the frontier in the Nile Valley and ignored the desert. It is only in the last one or two decades that the scholarly interest turned on the confiscation of Egypt and Nubia and especially the Eastern Desert area between the Upper Egyptian / Lower Nubian Nile and the Red Sea”.2 Indeed, while the Eastern Desert has been the focus of a great deal of research3 for quite some time, the Bayuda practically remained a white spot on the map of archaeological discoveries made in Sudan until 2009/2010. I hope that the implementation of the Bayuda Project will allow for significant progress on the earliest history of the region, and will provide new data for further study into the political and cultural influences of the Kerma Kingdom and the formation of the Egyptian-Nubian frontier, “a frontier between the worlds of order and chaos.”4 It is assumed that such a border location in the New Kingdom was the ʻboundary stoneʼ of Hagr el-Merwa, where we know two ‘stelae’ of Thutmose I and Thutmose III, both with identical images and texts.5 However, “the ‘boundary’ at Kurgus seems to have meant to protect the desert trade route connecting Egyptian Lower Nubia with regions to the east and south of the Middle Nile rather than a ‘frontier’.”6 A boundary stela erected in the 47th year of the reign of Thutmose III (c. 1432 BC) is also known from Napata, where this fortress is referred to as “Slaughter of the Desert Dwellers.”7 Fortunately, other areas of Nubia beyond the Nile Valley have also become of interest to many researchers in recent years, and the importance of these studies has been highlighted by Angelika Lohwasser who wrote recently: “Clearly the regions away from the Nile Valley are as important for us to investigate as those along the river itself. In fact, I predict that the future of Sudan archaeology will really lie there. Even more, I think we cannot draw a picture of the Kushite kingdom omitting these vast areas from our research.”8 The Bayuda desert, covering an area of more than 140,000 km2, is located on the eastern edge of the Sahara in the so-called Great Bend of the Nile, north of Khartoum. With a few exceptions, until the late 20th and early 21st c. no systematic archaeological research was carried out here. Between 1976 and 1978, an expedition led by the German geologist Klaus-Dieter Meinhold conducted a geological survey of the northern part of Bayuda, while simultaneously documenting the encountered archaeological finds.9 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Török 2009: 10. Welsby 1996: 57. Davies 2001: 57. Regarding Nubia’s ‘Egyptianization’, see: Smith & Buzon 2014. Regarding the formation of borders between Egypt and Nubia, see also Smith 2003b. See now comprehensively Davies 2017. Török 2009: 17. Török 2009: 19. Lohwasser 2014: 132. Meinhold 2009. See also Biegalska et al. in this volume.

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It was not until 1997 that a team of British archaeologists led by Michael Mallinson conducted a survey along the planned road from Khartoum to Ed-Debba.10 They recorded a total of 192 sites along a 237 km long section. Between the 95th and 210th kilometres (counting from Omdurman), the route of their survey led through the Wadi Muqaddam. Their most interesting discoveries included a Lower Palaeolithic site and two Early Holocene sites, where they noted large quantities of pottery, including Wavy Line and Dotted Wavy Line, lithics, grindstones, mammal bones and mollusc shells. Burial grounds dating to between the 1st millennium BC and the 1st millennium AD were predominant among the other sites noted. In recent years, much has been said about the discovery made by Tim Kendall of a Meroitic town at Al Meragh, which lies about 66 km south of Korti and 227 km north of Omdurman.11 It has been estimated that the site was in use between the 6th and 5th centuries BC.12 According to Kendall, “this was obviously an important Kushite outpost on the Wadi Muqaddam sometime during the Napatan period. (…) The obvious affluence of the chief residents of Al-Meragh suggests that for at least one brief period during the Napatan period Kush occupied and ruled much or all of the Wadi Muqaddam.”13 Certainly, “el-Meragh was a Kushite government installation for administrative purposes connected with the trade in the Wadi Muqaddam and oversight of the desert cattle herders, known as the Meded.”14 Since 2010, a team of German researchers directed by Angelika Lohwasser of Münster University has conducted extensive research and excavations within the Wadi Abu Dom and in its vicinity.15 Returning to the abovementioned works of the GdańskArchaeological Museum Expedition, they were concentrated in the north-western part of the Bayuda desert between 2009 and 2014, in an area covering ca. 20,000 km2 in which more than 900 archaeological sites were discovered (Fig. 1). These include a significant amount of site clusters located in the western part of the desert and dating to the Old Kush period,16 or – if preferred – the Kerma Horizon.17 Five such clusters were identified, of which the largest was marked as no. 4, recorded in the northern and north-eastern part of the studied area, mostly in the Wadi Es-Sebua area, i.e. in the Canyon of Lions.18 This includes 20 sites numbered BP 705, 706, 708, 736, 750, 755, 759, 761, 765, 766, 767, 769, 758, 761, 780, 781, 783, 786, 790, and 791. All these sites revealed the presence of burials dating to the Old Kush period, with two exceptions. 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18

Mallinson 1997: 30–34; Mallinson et al. 1998: 42–60; Fuller & Smith 2004: 265–281. See also Mallinson et al. in this volume. For the survey, see also the article of Kendall in this volume. Kendall 2006: 7; Lohwasser 2014: 127. Kendall 2006: 1–8. Lohwasser 2014: 127. Lohwasser 2009; 2010a; 2010b; 2011; 2012; Gabriel & Karberg 2011; Lohwasser & Karberg 2012; 2013; Lohwasser et al. 2014; 2015. See also the articles of this project in this volume. From the above-quoted reports it is known that the archaeologists from Münster recorded over 8000 archaeological sites in Wadi Abu Dom, which are not included in these considerations. Among them there are also sites dating back to the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC including large burial grounds dating back to the Kerma Ancien period and many Kerma-type cemeteries as well as cemeteries with the Dome Graves. It must be stressed that the term ʻOld Kushʼ should be used in a chronological rather than a cultural sense. An approximate equivalent to this term is ʻKerma Horizonʼ, which suggests the influence and dominance of the Kerma Culture in the period discussed. Kołosowska et al. 2003: 21–25. Located ca. 20–40 km west of the Marawi Dam.

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Fig. 1:

Map of sites discovered by GAME in 2009-2014.

At site BP 708, situated next to a cemetery dating back to the Old Kush II period and located on the top and slopes of the hill called the Crystal Mountain, a quite extensive settlement was discovered at the foot of an elevation on the shores of the vast wadi.19 There are numerous natural quartz crystals in the whole area of this site. Similarly, at site BP 755, next to the graves located at the top of the rocky elevation, some relics of several circular stone foundations (dwellings?) were found on the slopes and at the foot of the elevation. Since no material was found within them, we have no way of dating them without excavation. Not far from site BP 755, rock engravings located at the bottom of the wadi were registered at sites BP 705 and BP 706. The drawings originating from different periods depict ostriches and longhorn cattle. Both the stylistics of these representations and the patina overlaying them seem to indicate their old age, perhaps even older than the Kingdom of Kerma. 19

Fragments of pottery dating back to the Kerma Horizon and the New Kingdom were found in this settlement, what in the absence of other findings at this site could support the idea of a common chronology of the settlement and burial ground.

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In the case of two cemeteries (BP 761, BP 791), apart from the well-preserved burials found there, robbed grave structures were also encountered, as well as pottery fragments that might date to both the New Kingdom and the beginnings of the Napata period. It is worth noting that a trail passes through cluster no. 4, on one side connecting volcanic areas in the southeast, providing brine that has long been extensively exploited, with fertile lands in the northwest and west located along the banks of the Nile. The volcanic field is one of the most fascinating places in the Bayuda, however, it is even more important to note that this area is of vital importance for the economy of the tribes living there. The largest extinct volcano crater located there is called Hosh ed-Dalam and is about 1300 m in diameter. The mineral deposits at the bottom of some craters are used in folk medicine, for cooking, and as natural salt licks for animals.20 Some of the deposits are even used as components for making gunpowder.21 One of the most important sources of the jeddiq in the region discussed seems to be Jebel Muwelha (i.e. the Salt Mountain), situated on the south-west margin of the Bayuda volcanic field. This name is derived from the salt water that is almost permanently present at the bottom of the cavity in the form of a small and shallow lake. This water contains dissolved sodium compounds that change into natron after evaporation, i.e. a mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate and sodium bicarbonate with an addition of sodium chlorate and sulphate, locally also known as atroun or jeddiq.22 To this day, natron is widely used in many fields of life throughout the Sudan. It is still added to traditional dishes, such as medida soup, mulukhyiya or sabaruq sauce, to alleviate their acidity.23 It is also an important component of snuff – a very popular stimulant locally known as tumbak,24 containing mainly fermented and ground tobacco leaves. In the treatment of various ailments, such as fever, heart pain, any problems with the spleen or urinary system, the patient is given a weak aqueous solution of this remedy. Judging from the archaeological discoveries in the area discussed, it cannot be excluded that the exploitation of jeddiq on quite a large scale has taken place here since prehistoric times. In modern times, a family belonging to the Manasir tribe has settled near the crater and specializes in its exploitation. In some seasons, they are able to collect several hundreds bags (shawwal) containing this substance. At many of the archaeological sites making up cluster no. 4, including sites BP 759, 767, and 790, grave structures have been identified that are characteristic for the Old Kush II period and are also well-known from the Fourth Cataract region (Fig. 2). Cluster no. 1, located south of Korti, about 37 km east of the Wadi Muqaddam, consist of sites numbered BP 262, 263, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270, 272, and 285, with many similar constructions. All of these sites are graveyards dating from the Old Kush period, although unfortunately no relicts of residential buildings from the same period have been found in the vicinity. The functioning of such grave structures can be also presumed at two sites (BP 262, 269), both dating to the Old Kush I and Old Kush II periods. At site BP 262, one grave ca. 5 m in diameter and 1.3 m in height, was located at the top of the hill. It was built at first in the form of a cone with piled stones, but it had most certainly been looted at some point and its form 20 21 22 23 24

See also Fadlelmola in this volume. Maliński 2014: 79–88. Maliński 2014: 82, Fig. 12; Whiteman 1971: 257. Ząbek 1994: 77. Ząbek 1994: 86.

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changed. Some fragments of pottery and ostrich eggshell were found next to the grave. Similar impressive burial structures were noted at the nearby BP 263 site, where the graves had the form of mounds made of small- and medium-sized stones, with very steep walls, 1.4–1.8 m in height and 5 to even 8 m in diameter. At site BP 269, about eight grave superstructures were arranged side by side, also located at the top of the jebel, made of medium-sized and small pieces of rock. The mounds diameters ranged from 4–5 m and their height from 1.4–1.8 m. Almost identical clusters of graves, also dated to Old Kush, were discovered at BP 270. In the central part of the area in question, there is cluster no. 2, located next to the Wadi el-Neszki, with sites BP 340, 350, 353, 356, 365, 369, and 372. At site BP 340, next to a destroyed Kerma Culture grave built on top of the hill and made of very large stones, several circular stone structures were also recorded (perhaps a seasonal encampment?), which are probably the remains of residential buildings. Inside the structures and in their vicinity, fragments of pottery were found dating both to the Old Kush and Meroitic periods. Similar features have been registered at site BP 350; however, except for one fragment of pottery no other findings have been made that could help in their dating. Similar discoveries were made at sites BP 353, 356, and 369, where the remains of other constructions, probably residential buildings, were also found next to the graves. The diameters of these relics usually range from 2.5–3.5/4.5 m, and they are predominantly preserved as circles arranged from large rock fragments, marking as it were, the surface of the formerly existing structures, probably made of organic materials. For site BP 372 located at the top of a high hill, circular stone constructions (residential?) were encountered at the base of this elevation, whose chronology has not yet been determined. In cluster no. 2, in contrast to the above-mentioned cluster no. 4, except to the high graves, there are also various low-level constructions originating from the same time horizon, poorly visible on the surface of the area. At BP 272, the superstructures of these graves with a diameter of 2.5–4.0 m are only 25–30 cm in height. Cluster no. 3 is situated in the Wadi Daemon region, northeast of the Wadi Abu Dom, between the Nile and the volcanic fields, ca. 50 km west of the Nile. It consists of sites nos. BP 862, 864, 867, 870, 877, 880, 882, 885, 888, 890, 891, and 892. This area also has many grave structure types already well known from the Fourth Cataract region. Among others, at sites nos. BP 870, 882, 890, both ring-shaped stone constructions and symmetrical circular flat superstructure of graves with distinct edges made of medium-sized stones were registered. Parallels to the above-mentioned grave structures can be found in cemetery HP 503, located within the former Expedition GAME concession near the now flooded village of El-Widey.25 During the revolution of the Manasir tribe (2007), this site was made available by the Gdańsk archaeologists for excavations to the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition (OINE) working under the supervision of Geoff Emberling and Bruce Williams.26 The American archaeologists dated the HP 503 graves to the Middle Kerma period. Slightly less regular but also circular rock embankments of grave superstructures have also been found in a cemetery dating 25

26

https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/oriental-institute-nubian-expedition-2007-excavations (accessed 2017-05-20); Emberling 2009; HP is an acronym for the Hamdab Project, which was the original name for an international archaeological rescue operation in the Fourth Cataract area, later known as MDASP, i.e. Marawi Dam Archaeological Salvage Project. HP was used as a prefix for the numbering of archaeological sites discovered in the concession area of the Gdańsk Archaeological Museum on the right bank of the Nile between Karima and Khor el-Daghfali. Emberling 2009; Emberling & Williams 2010; Meyer 2010; Shonkwiler 2010; Harrell 2010.

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Fig. 2:

Clusters of sites dating back to the Kerma Horizon.

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Fig. 3:

Location of graves at site BP 164.

back to Middle Kerma, examined at the Fourth Cataract by a team from the Anglo-German Expedition supervised by Pawel Wolf and marked as site 3-Q-018.27 In the case of the abovecited sites nos. BP 862, 864, 867, 870, 882, 890, and 892, the remains of residential structures also dating to the Old Kush period were discovered near the graves, although it is uncertain whether they are from exactly the same chronological horizon as the burials located next to them. They are preserved in the form of circular stone structures, frequently incorporating natural monadnocks. In relation to the area in question, the southernmost cluster no. 5 is located in the vicinity of Wadi Abu Barkol and Wadi Rahab, west of Wadi Mureigh, between the Wadi Muqaddam and the Wadi Abu Dom, about 90 km south of the Nile. The cluster consists of sites nos. BP 485, 497, 508, 515, and 618. The remains of buildings of residential or economic nature 27

Paner 2014: 53–79. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 4:

293

Site BP 164 general view (kite photo M. Szmit).

were also registered next to all of these graveyards. In the case of sites BP 485 and 487, the funerary constructions are located at the tops of the elevations or only slightly lower, while the remains of residential buildings were generally observed at the base of the elevations on small promontories inclining toward the nearest wadi. On the other hand, at sites BP 508 and 515, the residential buildings are located on the higher zones parts of the elevations, only a few meters below the burial mounds. Quite often these are circular spaces cleared of the rubble that commonly occurs here, but there are no actual constructions at the edges of these circles. This may suggest that once here existing structures were only made from organic materials. In several other places, circular remnants of building foundations made of variously-sized rock fragments were also discovered. This may suggest that these are the remains of low walls made from stone and bonded with clay, while the above-discussed design was only using organic materials. This way of building structures both for economic and residential purposes still is continues not only in the Bayuda but also throughout Nubia to this day. An extremely important place for studies of the settlement pattern of the Bayuda desert in the 2nd millennium BC is site no. BP 164 located at the culmination of the elevation known as Jebel el-Sadat lying about 55 km southeast from the town of Karima. This is a burial ground from the Old Kush II and the New Kingdom periods, investigated in 2010–2011.28 (Figs. 3–4). As in the many other sites discussed above, this cemetery site is situated on the spot of an earlier Neolithic settlement, with numerous remnants of the stone built residential structures recorded at the base of the hill, unfortunately with uncertain chronology. A smaller cemetery site (BP 165), consisting of three or four graves, can also been dated to the Old Kush II period. 28

In 2010, the author of this contribution investigated this site, while in 2011 Aleksandra Pudło carried out archaeological excavations there.

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Site BP 164, grave no. 3 superstructure (photo H. Paner).

The superstructures of its graves were made both in the form of stone rings and embankments of small and medium-sized stones. In the first season (2010), grave no. 1 was selected for excavation due to its relatively large dimensions amounting to ca. 7 m in diameter. This tomb had been robbed but the remains of three ceramic vessels dating from the Old Kush II period were found in the robbery trench. The same kind of ceramic material came to light in the relatively shallow grave no. 2, in which two vessels (funerary grave goods) were found next to a poorly-preserved adult skeleton. Another excavated grave (no. 3) was also manifest on the surface as an annular mound made of small and medium-sized rock fragments with a clearly marked concave centre. The narrow and shallow burial chamber dug into the hard bedrock contained three ceramic vessels lying next to a poorly preserved adult skeleton (Figs. 5–6). Grave no. 4 was very difficult to identity in the surface due to being marked only in the form of a small circular embankment with an empty centre (Fig. 7). However, under the almost invisible superstructure, there was an oval burial chamber reinforced by tightly arranged stones at the edge. A skeleton of a young woman, 158 cm tall, was discovered inside the burial chamber lying on her back with strongly contracted legs and a prognathous skull, high or medium-high eye sockets and a wide nose. Post-traumatic changes were observed on her left ulna. A young man of 163 cm in height with his legs similarly laying contracted as in the previous case was placed on his right side in tomb no. 5. He was found in a shallow burial chamber, above which a granite grinder was find in the sand filling of the pit. In addition to the poorly preserved bones of the deceased, three ceramic vessels were discovered, dating from the Old Kush II period, as well as animal bone fragments. The superstructure of the tomb was ring-shaped, laid with small and medium-sized debris. Grave no. 7 had a similar superstructure as grave no. 6, also in the form of a pile of small and medium-sized stones, which – apart from the poorly-preserved skeleton of a child (infant I) – © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 6a: Site BP 164, grave no. 3 – Middle Kerma ceramic vessel (photo J. Szmit).

Fig. 6b: Site BP 164, grave no. 3 (photo J. Szmit).

Fig. 6c: Site BP 164, grave no. 4 (photo J. Szmit).

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Fig. 7:

Site BP 164, Middle Kerma burial, grave no. 4 (photo H. Paner).

also contained the remains of three ceramic vessels dating from the Old Kush II period. The last structures from this cemetery investigated in the 2010 season were graves no. 8 and no. 9, located close to each other in the northern part of the hill. Grave no. 8 was strongly distorted and partially destroyed by robbers, so it was difficult to determine the original shape of its superstructure. As a result of the anthropological research done byAleksandra Pudło, it has been established that the human remains buried in graves nos. 8 and 9 belonged to adult individuals.29 The only preserved grave goods were a pilgrim flask and carnelian beads, both dating from the Late Kerma/New Kingdom period. Likewise, in the case of grave no. 9, we cannot determine the form of the tomb superstructure, while in the irregular burial chamber a similar pilgrim flask and fragments of a necklace with carnelian beads, also dating back to between the 16th and 13th c. BC, i.e. the decline of the Kerma Kingdom and the first centuries of the New Kingdom, were discovered (Figs. 8–9).30 Grave no. 10 excavated in the 2011 season was hidden under a circular embankment made of rather small stones. It provided three vessels, the well preserved fragments of another three vessels, and a gold bead with a length of 20 mm in the shape of a double cone. The grave contained the burial of a young woman laid on her right side in a contracted position with the head directed to the east and the face to the north. The exact same positioning of the body of 29 30

All anthropological analyses of the skeletons for which the results are reported in this article were done by Aleksandra Pudło. For the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the research results before they were published, I wish to express my deepest gratitude. As for the carnelian beads, we can find analogies in the Deir el-Balah material, now being presented in the Hecht Museum at Haifa University. The site, located within present-day Israel, was an important fortified outpost of New Kingdom Egypt in the Late Canaanite Period, between 1550–1200 BC.

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Fig. 8:

Site BP 164, grave no. 9, reconstruction of the necklace with carnelian beads (photo J. Szmit).

Fig. 9:

The necklaces from Deir el-Balah (Israel) from the Late Canaanite Period (photo H. Paner).

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the deceased was recorded in grave no. 11, containing the burial of an older child. The tomb contained two complete vessels and parts of two others dating from the Old Kush II period, as well as animal bone fragments. A stone ring also covered grave no. 12, which turned out to be empty. Neither human bones nor grave goods were found here. However, since it was clearly a relatively shallow burial chamber excavated in hard bedrock and the superstructure was evidently made after the burial chamber had been filled, the question arises as to whether it might not have been a symbolic grave. An equally shallow burial pit was excavated in the case of grave no. 13, covered by a ring-shaped stone embankment. Despite the lack of any human bones, remains of two ceramic vessels dating from the Old Kush II period were discovered. Similarly, in grave no. 14, human bones were absent from the grave; however, two ceramic bowls and fragments of four other vessels – all stylistically related to the Kerma Horizon – were found in the periphery of the burial chamber. A poorly-preserved skeleton of an adult was preserved in grave no. 15, in which three complete vessels were also discovered, as well as numerous fragments of three subsequent ceramic vessels. Equally rich furnishings were found in grave no. 16. The skeleton from this burial belonged to a robust well-built young man, lying on his right side in a contracted position, with his head directed southward and facing east. The right side of the deceased was ‘enlarged’ (probably more muscular during his life) in relation to the left, while the left was more ‘exploited’. Additionally, there were well-preserved traces of inflammatory changes on the lower leg bones. According to anthropologist Alexandra Pudło, this suggests changes caused by specific forms of exertion, e.g. the intensive and prolonged use of a well-drawn bow. The high social status of the person buried in the grave was emphasized by the accompanying grave goods, consisting of three complete dishes, the fragments of four other vessels, faience beads (probably the remains of a necklace), and animal bones, i.e. the remains of sacrificed meat. The grave superstructures registered at site BP 164 also have many analogies among the findings made in the Fourth Cataract region. One such example is the HP 233 burial ground, located near the village of El-Argub, consisting of 22 burials dated to the Old Kush II period. The radiocarbon dating established during the investigation of the skeletons indicates a chronological range of between 2050 and 1600 BC, and so these graves are from the same Middle Kerma period as the largest settlement (site HP 221) noted in the region and located in the Wadi Umm Rahau near El-Argub village. It is worth noting that many of the graves in the HP 233 cemetery, with superstructures in the form of ring-shaped embankments constructed from small and medium-sized rock fragments, are often asymmetric, i.e. the embankment is higher on one side. Analysing the positioning of the burials in cemetery BP 164, it seems that it can be argued that the graves of women and children were frequently placed on the outskirts of the necropolis. The same is true in the Fourth Cataract region at the HP 338 cemetery site, where the burials of women were discovered in the south and southeast part of the cemetery, while the graves of men occupied the north and northwest part of the site. Cemetery HP 338, with the majority of the burials dating to between 2030 and 1740 BC, was also in use in the same period as HP 233. In the second half of the 2nd millennium BC or at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, so-called Dome Graves first appear in the Bayuda desert. Such burial types are also well

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represented among the funerary structures known from the Fourth Cataract region.31 It should be noted that during the GAME survey there were a number of unusual forms among the many recorded types of graves, not previously noted in this part of Nubia. The most interesting of these were Dome Graves, Semi-Dome Graves, Crevice Graves,32 and Tunnel Graves.33 Dome Grave cemeteries were recorded in the GAME concession at over 60 sites, amounting to a total of ca. 400 graves. The densest distribution of Dome Graves was observed in the vicinity of the Wadi Umm Rahau. An especially large Dome Grave cemetery was situated near Abu Haraz (54 graves). All the ceramic sherds found at this site lay in close proximity to the tombs, but not in the areas between them. This suggests that these vessels were either removed from the easily accessible burial chambers and smashed by grave robbers, or that they represent the remains of funeral rites involving the ritual breaking of pottery next to the grave. Burial grounds featuring Dome Graves have also been noted in other parts of the Fourth Cataract region outside the GAME concession.34 Beyond the Fourth Cataract, the only other graves of the Dome Grave type were discovered at Gerf Hussein,35 about 60 miles south of Aswan, at Bir Minih in the vicinity Wadi Hammamat, and at Wadi Gabba, ca. 70 km north of the Sudanese border. Cecil Firth attributed the Dome Grave from the Gerf Hussein cemetery to the B-Group period. However, it is known that archaeological evidence attributed to the B-Group should actually be identified as belonging to the Early A-Group.36 Nevertheless, this would still be the oldest example of a Dome Grave discovered so far, chronologically placed no later than the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. The Dome Graves are circular or sub-circular in plan. The diameter of the base measures from 2.5 to ca. 5–6 m. The walls of the superstructure are built up concentrically using relatively large pieces of rock (up to 70 cm long), which are carefully fitted together to form a corbelled dome structure, rather like an igloo, with the top of the tomb sealed with a layer of large stone slabs often up to 1.2 m long. Their presence even near robbed and destroyed graves could be quite convincing evidence that we are dealing with the remnants of a Dome Grave in such cases too. Sometimes natural rock formations are incorporated into the tomb structure. The height of the tombs ranges from 1.6–2.5 m, and their internal diameter measures from 1.3–1.8 m. The body is usually placed in a very shallow pit or on the natural surface of the ground, which is easily explained given the fact that these graves are usually situated on high rocky terrain. In many cases, only windblown sand was found covering the human remains, even if the grave was located on gravel. This suggests that no attempt was made to cover the body with earth. Instead, evidence from several graves shows that flat stones may have been placed directly on top of the inhumation. The positioning of these stones appears to be intentional, as they had clearly been laid before the burial superstructure was built. We cannot exclude the possibility that the people who built these graves also intended to accommodate a second burial on top of the stone slab layer. 31 32 33 34 35 36

Paner 2003: 169–171. Paner & Borcowski 2007: 1–10. Welsby 2003: 38; Welsby 2005: 5. The first tunnel grave was discovered in 1999 at site 4-F-51; however, it was not referred to as a tunnel grave. Welsby 2003: 122; Wolf 2004: 21; Wolf & Nowotnick 2005a: 188 f; Wolf & Nowotnick 2005b: 25; Budka 2007: 73–90. Firth 1912: 125. Edwards 2004: 74; Török 2009: 53.

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Following anthropological analysis, we can assume that this type of grave was not exclusively reserved for a particular sex or age category. For instance, out of the 21 inhumations recorded in the 15 graves excavated in Abu Haraz cemetery (HP 487), ten females, six males, and five individuals whose sex could not be determined were registered.37 In most graves, the skeletal material has been preserved in very poor condition. The few skeletons that were found in situ lay in a contracted position with the head directed southward. As tombs of this type are so striking in form and located on the tops of hills where they are readily visible, they had already been heavily robbed in antiquity. Excavation and radiocarbon dating evidence have led to the conclusion that the earliest tombs at Dome Grave cemeteries should be dated to the 2nd millennium BC, up to and including the Napatan period.38 It is worth stressing that Dome Graves are frequently found alongside other grave forms, such as stone rings, conical cairns, low blunt-topped cairns and cobblestone concentrations. In the Bayuda desert, a perfectly preserved example of a Dome Grave was discovered at site BP 303 (Fig. 10), located on the edge of the Wadi Muqaddam, where next to the tomb also the remains of residential structures preserved in the form of round stone constructions with a diameter of 3 to 2–2.5m were found. The surface inside these circles was thoroughly cleared of larger rock fragments, which distinguishes these places from their immediate surroundings. The Dome Grave from site BP 388, measuring 4.0 m in diameter and 1.5 m in height, is much less carefully constructed and somewhat worse preserved than the abovementioned one. It is located on the top of a high hill and dates back to the Napatan Period.

Fig. 10: Site BP 303, a Dome Grave in the Bayuda desert (photo H. Paner). 37 38

Pudło 2010: 165–200. Paner & Borcowski 2007: 5.

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The investigation of the Dome Graves in the GAME concession of the Fourth Cataract region using radiocarbon (C14) analyses, provided the date of the closing of the graves as occurring within a chronological range between 1510–830 BC. C14 analysis was also carried out on materials from four other Dome Grave cemeteries located in Hosh el-Guruf and Wadi Umm Rahau, producing dates falling within the late New Kingdom and early Napatan periods, while one grave from El-Fanab yielded the date of 1890 BC. Finds were recovered from inside three Dome Graves at site HP 487: – a bowl, grave 26 (the associated skeleton was C14 dated to 940–800 BC) – a pilgrim flask, grave 18 (C14 dated to1060–890 BC) – a scarab, grave 50, engraved with the name of Thutmosis III (1457–1425 BC)39 – faience, stone and carnelian beads (HP 241), dating to the New Kingdom period. A distinctly later group of burials, found both on their own and accompanying earlier inhumations dates from the early Meroitic period. Semi-Dome Graves are far less common than Dome Graves, with the main difference being that they are never fully circular in plan (usually semi-circular or in the form of smaller arcs) and they always abut a large boulder or rock face. As in the case of Dome Graves, most of them are characterized by the lack of a burial pit, although some have revealed very shallow examples.40 Their original appearance is often difficult to establish as they were not as well built as the Dome Graves. As a result, they were much more badly damaged by looting. They are generally found in small groups in places where Dome Graves do not occur (or where they are only represented by solitary examples). Radiocarbon dating of skeletal material from cemeteries at Abu Haraz (HP 756) and El-Gabarna (HP 722) yielded dates of between 1460 and 200 BC, whereas the majority of the dates indicates the period between 1000–400 BC. This suggests that Semi-Dome Graves may also have been reused or even built in a later period. So far, five sites with Semi-Dome Graves have been registered in the Western Bayuda area. One of these is the BP 177 site located at the top of the Jebel el-Az in the southern part of the plateau. Other Semi-Dome Graves were recorded at several other sites numbered BP 790, 835, 852, and 865, all located on rocky elevations. At BP 835, a Tunnel Grave was found, and the presence of Napatan and Meroitic pottery was also noted near a grave structure containing Neolithic pottery. We know of other Tunnel Graves from the discussed area from sites BP 398, 428, 744, 767, and 814. Such grave structures have already been encountered in the course of research conducted within the framework of the international activities of MDASP, but their dating is still not certain.41 Crevice Graves are the least common. In some rare instances, these structures consist of neatly built dry stone walls sealing a gap between two boulders. However, more often the body was placed in a rock fissure and then concealed by simply heaping stones on top of it. Crevice graves are usually found near concentrations of Semi-Dome Graves. Unfortunately, no radiocarbon dates have been obtained from any of these burials, but pottery finds suggest that they belong to the same tradition as the two grave types previously described. 39 40 41

See the remarks in Török 2009: 162. El-Tayeb & Kołosowska 2005: 61, Fig. 15. Welsby 2003: 38; Welsby 2005: 2–8.

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However, it is certain that after the fall of the Kerma Kingdom, Dome Graves became increasingly widespread in subsequent centuries.42 Perhaps we are dealing with the emergence of a new group of inhabitants in this region who were assimilated into the local population. This can be concluded from the various forms of graves found in the same cemeteries, however, occurring in a similar time interval. The placement of many cemeteries at the top of elevations might indicate certain religious beliefs and funerary ritual practices, but the reason for such a positioning in the landscape could also have practical importance. In many cases these graves could serve as landmarks for future generations (of nomads?), even after several years of absence in the area. Such a custom is known in nomadic tribes, which were often forced to bury their relatives on distant migration routes. Nevertheless, the possibility cannot be excluded that, in combination with progressive climate changes, we are also faced with a change in the way in which the majority of local residents farmed, shifting from an agricultural to a pastoral economy. Another possibility might be the migration of new people into the Fourth Cataract and Bayuda regions at the end of the first half of the 2nd millennium BC, people who preferred a nomadic lifestyle.43 This hypothesis seems to be confirmed by a significant lack of permanent settlement in the Fourth Cataract region and Bayuda desert after the fall of the Kerma Kingdom, as we know of only a few settlements from both these areas that can be dated to either the New Kingdom or Napatan periods. This might also be related to the development of new political and cultural boundaries between Nubia and Egypt.44 Certainly after the fall of the Kerma Kingdom we are dealing with a much wider spectrum of archaeological testimonies of human activities in the Bayuda desert than before, during both the New Kingdom and in the Napatan period. It seems that new cultural phenomena began to appear as of the New Kingdom period, i.e. Dome Graves, Semi-Dome Graves, Crevice Graves, and Tunnel Graves. This probably signifies that new funeral rites were introduced, not previously seen here, just like in the Fourth Cataract of the Nile, which were consequently continued in the Napatan period. These new habits involved graves frequently being built in rocky areas, while the bodies of the deceased were not buried in the ground but enclosed within stone structures. Can we therefore consider these new funerary habits in the discussed area in question as a testimony of the arrival of a new population here? It seems that this hypothesis is quite probable, although it requires further study. It is clear that evidence of sites with Kerma Culture materials appears in the Bayuda desert already at the second half of the 3nd millennium BC, but it must be emphasized that only 10–12 % of these sites are small settlements or camps, while the remaining 90 % are graveyards, predominantly those ranging in size from one to three or four graves, while 30 % of the cemeteries are single graves. There are only a few larger cemeteries, with the largest containing only a dozen or so graves. The only exception is site BP 488, at which 40 graves and the relics of a dozen or so dwellings were documented at the top of the high jebel. At present, the farthest findings relating to the Kerma Culture at Bayuda desert are located about 120 km south and southeast of Karima, and this area seem now to be the new southern boundary of the direct influences of the Kerma Kingdom. 42 43 44

Paner 2003: 169–170. Paner & Pudło 2010: 145; Paner 2014: 74–76. Török 2009; Smith 2003a: 39–64; Smith 2005: 207–237; Smith 2013: 84–107.

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Thus, based on the preliminary survey results, a hypothesis can be proposed about the important economic significance of the Bayuda desert, already in the times of the Kerma Culture. Until recently, the area of the Kerma Kingdom had been considered as not having stretched beyond the so-called ‘Great Bend’ in the south, but following the last discoveries, it would be possible to expand the borders of the Kerma Kingdom and its spheres of influence significantly both to the south and to the east. The analysis of the activities of the communities living in Bayuda in the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, as well as of their surroundings has provided a large amount of significant information about the settlement processes connected to the spatial development of the Old Kush phase, which has been identified by archaeologists with the Kerma Culture, but also about the territorial formation of the Second Kingdom of Kush contemporaneous to the end of New Kingdom and beginnings of the Napatan Period. At the end of this article, I would like to highlight that all the above-quoted numbers of archaeological sites, statistical calculations and percentages should be regarded as preliminary in nature. It must be kept in mind that the settlement pattern proposed here is hypothetical and based on an assessment of chronological and cultural affiliations made on the results of the initial reconnaissance, not supported by excavation results. Thus, this can only be treated as a starting point for the further reconstruction of the settlement processes that took place in the discussed area at the end of the 3rd millennium and during the 2nd millennium BC, the verification of which will proceed successively during further research planned for the following years.

Bibliography Budka, J. 2007 Documentation and Excavation of Dome and Crevice Graves in Kirbekan. In: Näser, C. & Lange, M. (eds.), Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Berlin, August 4th – 6th, 2005. Meroitica 23. Wiesbaden, 73–90. Davies, W. V. 2017 Nubia in the New Kingdom. The Egyptians at Kurgus. In: Spencer, N., Stevens, A. & Binder, M. (eds.), Nubia in the New Kingdom. Lived experience, pharaonic control and indigenous traditions, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 3. Leuven, 65–106. Edwards, D. N. 2004 The Nubian Past. London. El-Tayeb, M. M. & Kołosowska, E. 2005 Burial Traditions on the Right Bank of the Nile in the Fourth Cataract Region. In: Paner, H. & Jakobielski, S. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Gdańsk – Gniew, 23–25 July, 2004. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 4. Gdańsk, 51–74. Emberling, G. 2009 Letter from Sudan: The Gold of Kush. In: Archaeology 62.6, 55–59.

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Emberling, G. & Williams, B. 2010 The Kingdom of Kush in the 4th Cataract:Archaeological Salvage of the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition 2007 Season. Part I. Preliminary Report of the Sites of Hosh el-Guruf and El-Widay. In: Paner, H., Jakobielski, S. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Fourth Cataract Archaeological Salvage Project 1996–2009, Gdańsk, 2–4 July, 2009. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7, 17–38. Firth, C. M. 1912 The Archaeological Survey of Nubia. Report for 1908–1909. Cairo. Fuller, D. Q. & Smith, L. 2004 The Prehistory of the Bayuda: New Evidence from the Wadi Mugaddam. In: Kendall, T. (ed.), Nubian Studies 1998. Proceedings of the Ninth Conference of the International Society of Nubian Studies. August 21–26, 1998, Boston (Mass.). Boston, 265–281. Gabriel, B. & Karberg, T. 2011 Archäologischer Survey in der nördlichen Bayuda (Sudan) – Wadi Abu Dom und 4. Katarakt im Vergleich. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 89–104. Harrel, J. A. 2010 Archaeological Geology of Hosh el-Guruf, Fourth Nile Cataract, Sudan. In: Paner, H., Jakobielski, S. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Fourth Cataract Archaeological Salvage Project 1996–2009, Gdańsk, 2–4 July, 2009. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7. Gdańsk, 71–84. Kendall, T. 2006 Evidence for a Napatan Occupation of the Wadi Muqaddam: Excavations at Al-Meragh in the Bayuda Desert (1999–2000). In: Gratien, B. (ed.), Mélanges offerts à Francis Geus. Cahiers de recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et Égyptologie de Lille 26. Lille, 197–204. Kołosowska, E., El-Tayeb, M. & Paner, H., 2003 Old Kush in the Fourth Cataract Region. In: Sudan & Nubia 7, 21–25. Lohwasser, A. 2009 Ein archäologischer Survey an der Mündung des Wadi Abu Dom, Bayuda. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 20, 101–115. 2010a Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2010. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 21, 37–50. 2010b The Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (WADI). Preliminary Campaign 2009. In: Paner, H., Jakobielski, S. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Fourth Cataract Archaeological Salvage Project 1996–2009, Gdańsk, 2–4 July, 2009. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7. Gdańsk, 85–92. 2011 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2011. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 59–68.

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A Survey in the Western Bayuda: The Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary Project (W.A.D.I.). In: Sudan & Nubia 16, 109–117. Kush and her Neighbours Beyond the Nile Valley. In: Anderson, J. R. & Welsby, D. A. (eds.), Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Stuies. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1. London, 125–134.

Lohwasser, A. & Karberg, T. 2012 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2012. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 23, 35–46. 2013 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2013. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 24, 39–50. Lohwasser, A., Eger, J. & Karberg, T. 2014 (mit einem Beitrag von J. Helmbold-Doyé), Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2014. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 177–188. 2015 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2015. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 26, 109–122. Maliński, P. 2014 Some Remarks on the Role of Volcanic Craters in the Traditional Economy of the Manasir Tribe of the Bayuda Desert. In: Paner, H. & Jakobielski, S. (eds.), Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 11, 79–88. Mallinson, M. 1997 Preliminary Report: SARS Survey from Omdurman to Gabolab 1997. In: Sudan & Nubia 1, 30–34. Mallinson, M., Smith, L. & Fuller, D. Q. 1998 SARS Survey from Omdurman to Gabolab 1997. In: Sudan & Nubia 2, 42–60. Meinhold, K. D. 2009 Kulturfunde in der Bayuda-Wüste Sudan 1976-1978. Hannover (unpublished report). Meyer, C. 2010 The Kingdom of Kush in the 4th Cataract: Archaeological Salvage of the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition 2007 Season. Part II. Grinding Stones and Gold Mining at Hosh el-Guruf, Sudan. In: Paner, H., Jakobielski, S. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Fourth Cataract Archaeological Salvage Project 1996–2009, Gdańsk, 2–4 July, 2009. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7. Gdańsk, 39–52. Paner, H. 2003 Kerma Culture, Rock Art, Dome Graves and Other Discoveries in the Fourth Nile Cataract Region. In: Paner, H. (ed.), Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 2, 163–190.

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Kerma Culture in the Fourth Cataract of the Nile. In: Anderson, J. R. & Welsby, D. E. (eds.), Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1. London, 53–79.

Paner, H. & Borcowski, Z. 2007 Dome Graves and Other Uncommon Constructions from the Fourth Cataract Region. In: Näser, C. & Lange, M. (eds.), Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Berlin, August 4th–6th, 2005. Meroitica 23. Wiesbaden, 2–10. Paner, H. & Pudło, A. 2010a The Bayuda Project. The First Season – 2009. In: Paner, H., Jakobielski, S. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Fourth Cataract Archaeological Salvage Project 1996–2009, Gdańsk, 2–4 July, 2009. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7. Gdańsk, 117–129. 2010b Settlements in the Fourth Cataract GAME Concession in the Light of Radiocarbon Analysis. In: Paner, H., Jakobielski, S. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Fourth CataractArchaeological Salvage Project 1996–2009, Gdańsk, 2–4 July, 2009. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7. Gdańsk, 131–146. Shonkwiler, R. 2010 The Kingdom of Kush in the 4th Cataract:Archaeological Salvage of the Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition 2007 Season. Part III. A Napatan Seal Impression from Hosh el-Guruf. In: Paner, H, Jakobielski, S. & Anderson, J. R. (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Fourth Cataract Archaeological Salvage Project 1996–2009, Gdańsk, 2–4 July, 2009. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7. Gdańsk, 53–66. Smith, S. T. 2003 Pharaohs, Feasts, and Foreigners. In: Tamara Bray, L. (ed.), The Archaeology and Politics of Food and Feasting in Early States and Empires. New York, 39–64. 2005 To the Supports of Heaven. Political and Ideological Conception of Frontiers in Ancient Egypt. In: Parker, B. J. & Rodseth, L. (eds.), Untaming the Frontier in Anthropology, Archaeology and History. Tucson, 207–237. 2013 Revenge of the Kushites. In: Areshian, G. (ed.), Empires and Complexity. On the Crossroads of Archaeology. Los Angeles, 84–107. Smith, S. T. & Buzon, M. R. 2014 Colonial Entanglements: “Egyptianization” in Egypt’s Nubian Empire and the Nubian Dynasty. In: Anderson, J. R. & Welsby, D. A. (eds.), Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies. British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1. London, 431–442. Török, L. 2009 Between Two Worlds: The Frontier Region Between Ancient Nubia and Egypt 3700 BC–AD 500. Probleme der Ägyptologie 29. Leiden.

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Welsby, D. A. 1996 The Kingdom of Kush. The Napatan and Meroitic Empires. London. 2003 Survey Above the Fourth Nile Cataract. Sudan Archaeological Research Society Publication 10. BAR International Series 1110. Oxford. 2005 Survey in the Vicinity of Ed-Doma (AKSE), 2004-2005. In: Sudan & Nubia 9, 2–8. Whiteman, A. J. 1971 The Geology of Sudan Republic. Oxford. Wolf, P. 2004 The SARS Anglo-German Expedition at the Fourth Cataract of the Nile: The 2003/04 Season. In: Sudan & Nubia 8, 17–26. Wolf, P. & Nowotnick, U. 2005a First Season of the SARS Anglo-German Survey at the Fourth Cataract. In: Paner, H. & Jakobielski, S. (ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference: The Archaeology of the Fourth Nile Cataract. Gdańsk – Gniew, 23–25 July, 2004. Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 4. Gdańsk, 181–198. 2005b The Second Season of the SARS Anglo-German Expedition to the Fourth Cataract. In: Sudan & Nubia 9, 23–31. Ząbek, M. 1994 Culturaly Habits and Consumption Patterns in the Traditional Sudanese Culture. In: Ethnologia Polona 18, 75–97.

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Road Archaeology in the Wadi Muqaddam, SARS Survey from Omdurman to Gabolab: Environmental and Cultural Change in the Bayuda Michael Mallinson, Abdelrahman Ali Mohammed, Dorian Fuller & Laurence M. V. Smith

Abstract The 1997 Survey from Omdurman to Gabolab was ground breaking as it was the first scientific study of the archaeology of the Wadi Muqaddam area. It revealed over 180 sites, covering the periods from prehistory to the modern day. The research has indicated that this route through the Wadi Muqaddam has been a major thoroughfare between Africa and Europe since the beginning of human history, and may indeed at one time have been the River Nile bed, and in more recent times a secondary channel, silting up sometime in the beginning of the 2nd millennium. The wells along the wadi excavated at the end of the Bronze Age allowed the route to remain in use by humans, while migratory birds still follow this route today. This ancient channel also explains why ancient geographers thought that two Niles joined together at Khartoum to form the Island of Meroe. The new evidence points not only to the past, but also to the future of Sudan, as the new road along the old water course is opening up new places of habitation and the possibility of irrigation in areas previously only occupied by seasonal nomads. The potential of the old river course being re-irrigated would transform the region, discovering not only a new Nile, but a new Sudan as well. These developments from an archaeological view point suggest that continued study of the region is essential to record its fragile history before the modern world sweeps it away for all time. Keywords: River Nile, Archaeology, Road Archaeology, Archaeobotany, Wadi Muqaddam, Island of Meroe, Multiphase

1. First Wadi Muqaddam Survey 1997 The paper published in Sudan & Nubia in 1998 following the SARS survey in 1997 of the Wadi Muqaddam summarised the discoveries of that mission along the line of the ‘Northern Artery Road’(Shiryan al-Shamal), the tarmac road from Omdurman across the Bayuda, mostly following the Wadi Muqaddam, to Gabolab near Ed-Debba.1 It followed on from our Butana Surveys of 1993–96 along the ‘Challenge Road’.2 This was the first archaeological study of the region, and this road-line has not been surveyed since due to the changing political events of 1997. 1 2

Mallinson et al. 1998. Mallinson et al. 1996.

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In preparation of the survey, detailed aerial photography from the road builders was used to identify the majority of possible visible surface sites, and this ensured the later period sites were recorded, as tumuli and surface settlements were clearly visible, while the earlier material depended on chance uncovering by the road builders, or surface wash out. The survey preceded the construction of the road surface at various stages of completion. Up to Tamtam, the central point of the survey, the road was in an advance stage of completion while north of this the way was marked only by survey points. This separated the kinds of sites identified, as early road preparation unearthed different levels of material from the pure surface of the desert (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1:

Site locations – Wadi Muqaddam.

As a result, the pottery and small finds indicated occupation during the Palaeolithic, Khartoum Mesolithic, the Egyptian Late Period and Napatan, Meroitic, Christian and Islamic periods. Material datable to the Khartoum Neolithic, Late Neolithic, Egyptian Middle and New Kingdom, and Post-Meroitic was either of uncertain identification, or apparently absent from the survey line (Fig. 2). Three forms of palaeo-environmental evidence – fish and animal bone and shell, plant impressions from pottery, and sediment samples – were found from three broad periods: Lower Palaeolithic, Mesolithic/Neolithic and ‘historic’, i.e. Kushite to Christian and Early Islamic. This evidence indicates a more humid early Holocene (ca. 7000–5500 BC), with an apparent absence of evidence from Neolithic through to Kushite period, in the 1st millennium BC (Fig. 3).

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Summary of finds: Presence and absence of material assigned to different chronological periods. * indicates artefacts found clearly assignable to the period. (?) indicates artefacts recovered probably assignable to the period. Holocene–Mesolithic Wet Phase evidence, 7000–5500 BC Vegetation moved northwards, 100–200 mm extra rain Holocene–Mesolithic Dry Phase evidence, 5500–4500 BC Neolithic Wet Phase evidence, 2500–1000 BC Sites BM 115.1 & 61.3 Snails Limicolaria cailliaudi found at BM 54.1 can also be found around Kosti or along the river bank further north. This species was also found at Neolithic sites along the river bank at Esh-Shaheinab and at Khartoum Mesolithic sites as well. Pila wernei needs semi-permanent water like White Nile.

Palaeo-environmental evidence from northern Sudan, ca. 7000–5500 BC. Distribution of ancient finds of selected indicator snail and plant species for the early Holocene are indicated. Note that the Limicolaria finds from the Wadi Muqaddam are undated. The base map indicates isohyets of average, modern annual rainfall. Three representative annual climate schedules are inset, showing rainfall (in m per month [hatched area]) and average daily temperature (dashed lines) (after Mallinson et al. 1998: 53, Fig. 2).

Fig. 3:

New evidence – Palaeo-ecology of the Wadi Muqaddam.

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Hypotheses were put forward, including the suggestion that species such as catfish, snails and river mussels indicated the possibility of the Wadi Muqaddam having been a channel of the White Nile in the Early Holocene; and the shift of this channel during the Neolithic led to the area surveyed having been relatively depopulated until ca. 800 BC, when desert travel was made possible again by reopening wells (Figs. 4–15). To investigate this hypothesis in the time since the survey, we have studied more recently available high-resolution satellite imagery to consider this issue, and also separate geological studies on the water tables of the Nile Valley. This paper intends to present a summary of the sites and dating evidence found, and relate this and the environmental evidence to the satellite data, to examine more closely the relationship between the evidence for settlement and the data for the environment, over the long duration from the Early Holocene. Given that such data extends the record to the present, the paper will also examine the changes that have taken place since the survey was carried out, resulting from the presence of the ‘Northern Artery Road’ (Shiryan al-Shamal).

2. Research Questions on the Wadi Muqaddam, and its Role in Providing Evidence of the Region’s History 2.1 Research Beginnings Since the research in the Middle Nile Valley began in the beginning of the 20th c. with the works of E.A. Wallis Budge, GeorgeA. Reisner, Walter B. Emery, Laurence P. Kirwan, Francis Lloyd Griffith, C. Leonard Wooley and Dows Dunham and their ‘conquest populations view’, it has been developed, with the research surrounding the Nubia rescue campaigns of the 1960s, into a more ‘local continuity’ perspective. In these more recent publications of Fred Wendorf, Prehistory of Nubia,3 Karl W. Butzer, Desert and River in Nubia,4 and William Y. Adams, Nubia: Corridor toAfrica,5 the Nile valley has been suggested as the primary North-South route through the Sahara for human migration from Africa during the period ca. 50,000–60,000 BC, but in the historic period more static populations have provided continuity despite apparent cultural changes. This route along the Nile through the desert was seen as primarily river based, at the point that the crossing of the desert was begun, as until the use of camels in ca. 800 BC long distance routes were not practical. The Wadi Muqaddam breaks this Nile-based focus, as its unique location along the line of the moving of the rains during the Neolithic Wet Phase c. 7000–6000 BC offers the opportunity for studying this changing route’s environment and human migration over a long period of history (Figs. 3–4).

3 4 5

Wendorf 1968. Butzer 1968. Adams 1977.

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Fig. 4:

Wadi Muqaddam – A lost Nile channel? Left: 1997 interpretations, old geological survey map, right: 2015 interpretations, new geological map Sudan.

Wadi Muqaddam Qoz Abu Dhulu Sand Dunes Blue Nile Possible Nile bed Earlier Blue Nile bed

Fig. 5:

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Wadi Muqaddam – A lost Nile channel? (b/w satellite imagery evidence).

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2.2 Question of Deeper History The geological history of the River Nile is much more ancient than that of mankind. Its formation as a river over 60 million years can be traced in the geological maps of Sudan, while its changing courses formed the Nile valley as it is today only as recently as 12,500 years ago.6 (Figs. 4–5). These geological changes also represent changing habitats for those living along its banks which impact on the later history of the region. In an age where major environmental change has become of so much concern, and the river itself subject to transformation by human intervention with dams and irrigation systems changing the weather systems of the region, the possibility that these changes reflect a transformation of the living landscape and the environment becomes a key question to investigate. By looking at the geological maps and aerial photos of the Wadi Muqaddam, a clear course for the Nile can be identified running from south of Khartoum to the bend at Ed-Debba. This course is covered by the sand dune of Qoz Abu Dulu which may have been a contributory factor to changing flooding patterns (Figs. 6–7). The question as to when this occurred needs investigating but it is plausible this dune’s arrival matches that of the final closing of the Blue and White Niles combined flooding down this alternative Western river course about 5000–3000 years ago (Figs. 7–8). This in turn would have affected how the Nile flood reached the Nile valley and potentially caused a drying out of the river banks of the lower Nile making it more habitable and encouraging the settlements of the early populations of Egypt. The conquests then referred to in the raiding parties of Egyptian records of Nubia may be actually linked to trading to the remaining fertile areas of Upper Nubia for a population increasingly cut off from people who originally settled the region. Wadi Muqaddam

Colour satellite images hint at possible lost river courses of the Nile.

Fig. 6:

6

Wadi Muqaddam – A lost Nile channel? (colour satellite imagery evidence).

Sutcliffe 2009: 336.

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Fig. 7:

315

Sand dune arrival closes the Nile – Dune migration around 5000–3000 years ago. Geological Strata show no dykes or obstructions along the proposed Nile flood route.

Wadi el-Melik also closed off by sand dunes at same time as Wadi Muqaddam.

North-Eastern Africa, showing localities and physiographic and structural features. The dykes and lineaments are identified from satellite imagery, and only selected major features are shown. The rose diagrams are syntheses of drainage orientation of Nile tributaries between Aswan and Cairo, selected from those presented by Yallouze & Knetsch 1954. The upper histogram summarises these drainage orientations. The lower histogram summarises orientations of major joints and air photo lineaments at the 6th Cataract, measured from Whiteman 1971: Fig. 12.

Fig. 8:

New Evidence – Geological Evidence.

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The totemic animals of Egypt, elephant, giraffe, lions, leopards, wild bulls and dogs, were already depleted by the changing flood patterns, and access to these emblems would have been a key part of population identities. With the loss of the flooding and changing migratory patterns so that these species no longer entered Egypt, a major spiritual rift would have occurred to people who identified with these species as their spiritual forefathers. The trading and desire for tokens of these species, ivory, feathers, tail whisks, skins, would have become an essential necessity for these people, and a reason for the reference to raiding parties travelling long distances to re-join with this lost origin.7 An A-Group gold handled mace (Sayala Mace) dating to the start of the Pharaonic period depicts all these animals in a way similar to rock engravings in the area.8 The evidence for the emblematic importance of African animals to the early kings of Egypt is evidenced on a number of stone palettes (the Narmer Palette, the Four Dogs Palette, the Louvre Palette, Metropolitan Palette, Tjehenu Palette, Battlefield Palette9) which depict the king’s authority identified with lions, giraffe, leopards, and wild bulls conquering his enemies. This animal spirit identification is similar to those still present in African kingship recorded into the late 20th c. as close to Egypt as Darfur.10

2.3 Why Did Mankind (i.e. Homo sapiens) Leave Africa ca. 65,000 Years Ago What transformation of the environment required their departure from this ‘Eden’ and did it relate to the Nile’s changing courses rendering previously habitable lands barren, or safe territories overrun by predators driven by starvation in previously plentiful lands? Recent transformation of African landscapes by changing environments due to global warming illustrates how a landscape can be transformed by environmental change.11 The Wadi Muqaddam is an example of a transforming riverine landscape that had a constant flowing stream until the beginning of the 3rd millennium as evidenced in its settlement patterns; but was periodic re-opening of the Nile channels still occurring in the historical period and did the Island of Meroe of Ptolemy have its origins in this periodic flood? The evidence of the changing habitation of the Wadi Muqaddam opens major questions as to how far north the traditional hunter-gatherer life style extended. The recent climate changes show that failing water systems force animals to migrate downstream in search of lakes and water courses. The secondary effect is mistiming of migration so that predators miss their prey, and turn to other prey. The final effect is the increase of wild fires, drought, deforestation and desertification including the spreading of sand dunes such as Qoz Abu Dulu. These changing climates would have contributed to the moving of people downstream, and the loss of huntergatherer prey would have encouraged other sources of food to be developed. The coming of the riverine civilisations cut them off from their African roots but the symbolism of African power lingered on, and the desire to keep its authority, deriving from this symbolism, fed the trade into Africa for the totemic material that maintained it. 7 8 9 10 11

Shinnie 1995: 49–51, Fig. 11. Firth 1908–9. Osborn & Osbornova 1998: 2, Figs. 1-2a; Quibell 1898: Pls. 12–13; Petrie 1917: Fig. 4; Quibell & Green 1902: Pl. 28; Petrie 1953: Pls. E14, D13, G. Paul Balfour, personal communication. Kaeslin et al. 2012: 31.

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Napatan/Meroitic Occupancy End of Old Kingdom due to low Niles 3rd millennium occupancy Neolithic occupation matches the high flood levels of both the Blue Nile and White Nile Radiocarbon ages of high Blue and White Nile flood levels and of high lake levels in central Sudan west of the White Nile, 13,000 BP to 2000 BP. Note that ages shown here are not in calendar years. (after Said 1993).

Fig. 9:

Occupation levels in the Wadi Muqaddam continue after high rain levels cease in the open desert in 7000 BP.

The Wadi Muqaddam’s change of flow is matched by that of the Wadi el-Melik,12 Van Neer found 18 species of fossil Nilotic fish in Holocene river deposits, and evidence that Neolithic man settled over the area, moving after 6000 BP to the Nile Valley.13 The lower reaches of the Wadi el-Melik are blocked by sand dunes probably dating to similar dates to those of Qoz Abu Dulu. The White Nile flows from an ancient lake that dates from around 14,500 BP, which around 4200 BP seems to have dropped to such a low level as to cause the Nile to fail, so bringing down the Old Kingdom (Fig. 9).14 The high Nile periods are 14.7–13.1 ka, 9.7–9.0 ka, 7.9–7.6 ka, 6.3 ka and 3.2–2.8 ka. These correspond to global climatic change coinciding with periods between polar cooling and tropical aridity in 9–8 ka, 6–5 ka, 4.2–3.8 ka, 1.2–1.0 ka and 0.6–0.15 ka. 12 13 14

Dumont 2009: 7. Kuper & Kröpelin 2006: 803–807. Williams& Talbot 2009: 61.

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Holocene lake deposits and radiocarbon ages of sub-fossil freswahter molluscs in the Wad Mansurab basin, west of the White Nile (adapted from Williams et al. 1974) (Williams & Adamson 1980: 299, Fig 12.9).

Fig. 10: Evidence of Nile flood dates from fresh water molluscs match the same dates as the Wadi Muqaddam molluscs.

Vertical and lateral distributions of sub-fossil molluscs in Blue and White Nile alluvium (adapted from Tothil 1946; Willians & Adamson 1973; Williams & Gillespie 1979) (Williams & Adamson 1980: 293, Fig 12.7).

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Studies made in 2002 of the Nile palaeo-channels east of Kerma, indicate palaeo-channels active during the Neolithic (7.5–5.7 ka) Kerma (4.5–3.5 ka), New Kingdom/Kushite (3.1–2.8 ka) Fish vertebrae from Wadi and [sic] Meroitic and PostMuqaddam road site 115.1, locus 1 Meroitic (0.5 ka).15 The larger palaeo-channels show no Fish bones from flood pottery later than the Classic plain fish Tilapia surKerma period (1750–1580 BC) vive in dry conditions; suggesting that there was a major catfish can aestivate in change in the Nile in the period, burrows. corresponding to the closing off of the ancient lake around this Dorsal fin ray bone, probably from period, which also corresponds to Tilapia; Wadi Muqaddam road site the end of the occupancy periods 115.1, locus 1 of the Wadi Muqaddam. Other causes for the potential flowing of the Muqaddam relate to the changing rain patterns of the Sahel area. These have moved southwards since the Holocene Wet Phase, but the reasons proposed for this have changed in recent years. The Fragment of proximal end of pectoral suggestion was made that it was spine from a Siluridae catfish; Wadi due to overgrazing,16 but now Muqaddam road site 115.1, locus 1 these are considered merely as amplifiers of ocean induced rain fall variations. Inter-hemispheric sea surface temperature (SST) Fig. 11: The ‘Neolithic Highway’sites (see 3.3) also have flood plain fish and Cat fish characteristic of Nile tributaries; variations are actually seen as the these species are absent in Sahara lake floods deriving key players in long term rainfall from rain fall. evolution.17 The key point here is that the change in rain fall pattern does not significantly improve the annual flow of the Wadi Muqaddam until it is equivalent to eight degrees south of current rain levels, similar to the headwaters of the Dinder river, which is dry much of the year and would not have had constant flow without a basin outflow until it was equivalent to twelve degrees south. To have such a quantity of fresh water fish and molluscs as were found in the Mesolithic sites on the 1997 survey, the palaeo-Nile option must be therefore seriously considered (Figs. 10–11). 15 16 17

Woodward et al. 2001; Welsby et al. 2002. Charney 1975. Camberlin 2009: 326.

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Northward migration of Blue Nile channel evidenced in the Gezira Area. The Blue Nile’s more southern discharge would affect the flooding in southern wadis. The Blue Nile bed was 11 m higher in 7000 BP.

2. The Blue Nile flood season flow creates a 6 m high water barrage that backs up the White Nile and floods surrounding upstream wadis. 3. Higher Blue Nile and flood barrier combines to 17 m above current river levels.

Fig. 12.2: Late Quaternary palaeochannels in the Gezira and radiocarbon sample locations between Sennar and Khartoum, Blue Nile left bank (after Dumont 2009: Fig. 12.6). Modern White Nile flood due to Blue Nile rising

Fig. 12.1: Late Quaternary depositional sequence and radiocarbon sample locations between Rabak and Khartoum, White Nile right bank (after Dumont 2009: Fig. 12.8).

Fig. 12.3: Mean daily discharge contributed to the main Nile by the Blue Nile, White Nile and Atbara (after Dumont 2009: Fig. 12.2).

Fig. 12: New Evidence – The changing course of the historic Blue Nile.

A particularly interesting aspect of recent studies is the evidence that the White Nile level rises south of Khartoum significantly during the Blue Nile flood period, as water rushing down from Ethiopia forms a wall that forces the White Nile to back up from the confluence. This would mean that even after the ancestral lake that formed the White Nile had dropped during the Old Kingdom, the river would still have back filled when there was sufficient rain, which would potentially flood any palaeo-channels linked to the Wadi Muqaddam south of Khartoum that would have dried out in the Old Kingdom if sand dunes had not closed the course.18 Evidence for the origin of the palaeo-channel could also be found in the changing course of the Blue Nile itself. The Blue Nile carries the majority of the sediment deposited in Egypt 18

Sutcliffe 2009: 355.

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Spot heights indicate possible routes; water needs to rise 10 m to clear ridge; Blue Nile erosion results in 11 m fall in last 10,000 years; flood rises 6 m from Blue Nile flood; alternatives include the Bar Al-Ghazal flood route.

Fig. 13: New Evidence – Spot heights indicate that 11 m were needed to reach the river bank wadi heads. Qoz Abu Dhulu has added additional sand, making modern flooding impossible.

and Sudan in just one month when it accounts, with the Atbara, for 80 % of the Nile flood. The Sudd filters out the majority of the silt from the Ugandan outflow, so that the Gezira is mostly created by the Blue Nile. Palaeo-channels of the Blue Nile clearly evidence the more southern route of the Blue Nile which would link with palaeo-channels in the Wadi Muqaddam (Figs. 12–13). The southern Blue Nile that has this branch has dates of 6890 BP. These match with the channel at Jebel Aulia which might cross to the Muqaddam where the same pottery associated with mollusc shells dates from 7050 BP.19 This branch seems to have served two routes: one connected to the current confluence at Khartoum, the second one heading west in a short bend, but the clearest link being at Khor Abou Anga south of Khartoum where this wadi clearly links to the head of Wadi Muqaddam. It is also here that the Acheulian tools most closely resemble those found at site BM 69, thus showing the antiquity of this channel (Fig. 18). The high levels of rain in this period also created the presence of Holocene lakes with deposit dates of 7870 to 6990 BP at the head of Wadi Muqaddam in the Wad Mansurab basin west of the White Nile.20 These lakes extended across the Sahara in this period and could in the rainy season have provided feeder supplies for the outflow to Wadi Muqaddam. These lakes had Bulinus, Biomphalaria and Pila shells, and some land snails, but no fish, which is different from the Muqaddam finds (Fig. 3). These lakes are 20–40 m higher than the highest Holocene Nile flood levels, which means that they have to be rain fed, but also they would contribute to creating run off channels into the Nile. This battle between rain, sand and river is what created the landscape in which Mesolithic man would have lived. At the same time, it offers a secondary pattern of flooding and drainage down Nile channels which may have had a seasonal Nile flood similar to the Atbara around which Mesolithic man formed 19 20

Williams & Faure 1980: 291, Fig 12.6. Williams & Faure 1980: 299, Fig. 12.6.5.

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seasonal camp sites, which characterise the finds made on the survey. The Nile alone would have been a constant source of water, and this may have been why human settlement focused around its banks, and why it also was the location for burial sites in this early period and presumably the beginnings of cults of ancestors which developed into the early Nile religions. The final evidence of the Nile origin of Wadi Muqaddam is the down-cutting effect over the last 11,000 years. The White Nile is now 4 m lower than it was then, and 2 m lower since 8000 BP. The Blue Nile in contrast is now 10 m lower than 11,000 BP and 4 m lower since 8000 BP. The effect of this is that above current Aswan dam level, silt deposits have been discovered dating to 12,500–11,400 BP, 8400–8100 BP, 7000 BP, 5500 BP, 3000 BP, 2700 BP and 2000–1500 BP. At the present time, the White Nile floods are caused by high Blue Niles, and this proves to be the case with Blue Nile’s flood levels tallying with the White Nile’s.21 The prehistoric site at Jebel Tomiat has similar fish bones to that of the Wadi Muqaddam dated to 1930 BP.22 What is interesting is that the Holocene Wet Phase matches the early flooding of the Wadi Muqaddam, but the later high Niles match the occupancy phases of the Muqaddam when there were no corresponding high rain levels (Fig. 9). The gap between 5000 to 3000 BP matches the absence of sites in our survey, suggesting that the Wadi Muqaddam as an active water course was essential for its continued human use until the establishment of the camel and an extensive well system in the Early Medieval period. This would explain also why classical writers still knew of the Muqaddam as a potential Nile river channel in their descriptions which later medieval map makers copied and retained a memory of (Fig. 14–15). 1. In 500 BC, Herodotus refers to routes to Meroe of 40 days along the river after Aswan to the Cataract and of 12 days by boat. This implies current Jebel Barkal was then known as Meroe. 2. The second capital a further 40 days along the Nile in the “Land of the Deserters” indicates the second Meroe near Begrawija. 3. Strabo and Ptolemy writing 400 years later describe the two rivers around Meroe as rejoining to the south. 4. If the two Meroes were confused then the two rivers that join to the south and that Meroe sits in between would be the Wadi Muqaddam and the Nile. 5. Ancient traditions of the Nile flowing southwards above Aswan verified in recent flooding events when the Nile flows back up the Wadi Muqaddam at very high Niles may also give alternative flood pattern.

Fig. 14: Classical references to Nile tributaries suggest a possible link to the Wadi Muqaddam’s change of direction. 21 22

Williams & Faure 1980: Fig 12.10. Clark & Stemler 1975: 472–474. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Description of the Nile by Ptolemy: he describes the two tributaries Astapus and Astaboras rejoining near Khartoum, at this point he mentions the new Meroe; the rivers are the Blue Nile and Atbara river. The Atbara is also a seasonal river drying out in the summer like the Muqaddam would have done. The name of the Island of Meroe is transferred to the Butana desert from the Bayuda. More modern maps depicting the Island of Meroe as described by Ptolemy in the 2nd c. AD.

Codex Vaticanus Urbinus Graecus 82, ca. 1300

Waldseemüller 1507

Corelli 1690

Ptolemy’s description of the Upper Nile: Here the Nile river on the west and the Astaboras on the east form the region of the Island of Meroë, in which island are the following towns:

Ptolemy on Modern Maps, 61.3 E = 33.3° E

Meroë 61˚ 30 16˚30 Sacolche 61˚ 40 15˚15 Eser 61˚ 40 13˚30 Daron Village 62˚ 00 12˚30 The junction of the river Nile and the Astapus 61˚ 00 12˚00 Then the junction of the river Astaboras and the Astapus 62˚ 30 11˚30 Where the Nile river becomes one through the union of rivers which flow from two lakes 60˚ 00 2˚00 Western lake 57˚ 00 6˚00S Eastern lake 65˚ 00 7˚00S Lake Coloë 69˚ 00 Equator

Fig. 15: Classical references to the Island of Meroe could be a lost memory of a Muqaddam tributary.

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By 2000–1500 BP, the Nile bed would have lowered by 6 m sufficient to no longer flood the Khor Abu Anga or the southern crossing at Wad Nimr making the eastern route through the cataracts the only permanent river bed. Only the memory of prehistoric use of the Muqaddam maintained a cultural route during these cycles, as well as migration patterns of small birds, and possibly animal migrations to the beginning of the Old Kingdom. The Wadi Muqaddam would have been a more hospitable route for crossing from Africa to the historic Nile Valley for trade and seasonal pastoralism. This would explain the importance of marking the route with burial mounds, and the presence of finds across this period, but also why Africa continued with a link to the Lower Nile valley so late. The fall of the Nile from Khartoum to Ed-Debba is 200 m,23 the same as the fall from Ed-Debba to Alexandria. The Wadi Muqaddam when it was flowing would have considerably altered the flow of the Lower Nile as a result, and explained why the cutting off of the Nile flood through this route might match so closely changing periods of occupation in Egypt.

2.4 ‘Another Nile’ The questions relating to the Napatan, Meroitic and Post-Meroitic reopening of the Wadi Muqaddam track through digging wells and developing a permanent trade route are linked to nomadic pastoralism. Tribes living along the Meroe-Shendi reach of the Nile also are present in the nomadic populations living along the Wadi Muqaddam; so why were they burying the dead along a dry river, when they were also using the Nile river banks at the same time for the same symbolic purpose. Is it possible that the ancient memory of the flowing Muqaddam gave the Wadi the status of another Nile? The burial traditions of the Nile, attested further north in Nubia, indicate a preference for Nile-side interments, at least in the early periods. Although the opening of the routes in the Napatan period (ca. 800 BC) may reflect either some initial use of long distance beasts of burden in the form of the camel, or alternatively higher levels of organisation and skills in well digging just using donkeys, by exploiting the knowledge of these routes which must have come from ancient traditions. But the possibility also has to be considered that the Napatans were following evidence of the presence of water from a continuing flooding from the Nile from the northern downstream end of the wadi. This memory survived into the recent past as under certain conditions when the Nile is in flood it turns down the wadis around Ed-Debba, and can be seen flowing south as well as north as it follows ancient river courses. This alone may account for the tradition of the Nile having its source close to the Egyptian border and flowing both ways. Maps from the beginning of records of the Nile show substantial islands in this region, and may reflect this varying landscape. This in turn may reflect the traditions of old river courses periodically flooding. This ambiguous channel tradition may explain how the wadi became sufficiently important to be used as a Nile course for burial purposes. The early burial mounds we have shown from our Atbara survey to be 3rd millennium in date, relate to when the Wadi Muqaddam was an active Nile channel. These mounds therefore would have already given a historical reference to populations of the channel’s historic importance, and once the earlier Napatan and Meroitic burials followed this historic precedent, 23

Adams 1977: 29, Fig. 6.

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the later medieval tombs followed, despite the water course having become long dried up in its upper reaches by these periods. By then the burials themselves may have become also markers for the trade routes. The memory of ancestors again provided the markers for the connection for Egyptian and Napatan trade into Africa. The association with the ownership of various parts of the Wadi Muqaddam with its equivalent modern settled tribes along the Nile to the east may reflect that these tribes also see the wadi in the historical past as a part of their Nile valley, and they come out for a part of the year when the rains fall and become nomadic before crossing back to the Nile for the remaining seasons. This changing use may reflect the last remains of the traditions of the Lower Nile valley prior to desertification, the fear of Ancient Egyptians of the nomadic tribes and the tradition of the two brothers Seth and Horus, one of whom became a desert dweller, is still a part of the life of the Wadi Muqaddam tribes (Fig. 16).

Ortelius 1584

Through the creation of the Bronze age well network the major road to Africa and the success of Soba and then Omdurman/Khartoum as Sudan’s capital city.

Cary 1805

Fig. 16: Bronze age wells along the Muqaddam route effectively create a second tributary after the first one dried up, hence the importance of Soba and then Khartoum today.

2.5 Question of the Acheulian Tools at Wadi Muqaddam Site 69 Already the route from Africa was down this path. Birds still follow the Wadi as a migratory route, probably animals such as giraffe and elephant depicted further north were using this as a migratory route, which was then pursued by early man. Do these early sites indicate that early hominids trailed these species out of his early home into Europe and Asia through the Wadi Muqaddam (Fig. 18)? The Acheulian tools that long predate the later settlements along the Nile suggest a much more ancient migration route or riverside settlements, during a time © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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when the Wadi Muqaddam was still part of the African savannahs. Current theories suggest that the first migration routes of Homo Sapiens into Asia were across the Arabian peninsula from Ethiopia. The discovery of Acheulian tools in Wadi Muqaddam and now also in Dongola, show a Nile route existed as long ago as 100,000 years for early man. Whether the later Homo Sapiens also moved into the lower Nile and from there into the fertile crescent and Europe before the Ethiopian migrations remains unproven. The research in the Wadi Muqaddam is an opportunity to study this route from a new perspective, and this is an important outcome of the study. The major Middle Palaeolithic sites found by Wendorf are in the Western Desert north of the Wadi Muqaddam at Bir Saharah and Bir Tarfawi.24 This is just to the west of the Darb El-Arbain, the medieval North-South camel route. The organic material uncovered dates back to 100 ka, and provides evidence of the presence of African Savanna during this period. Wendorf et al. record successive dry periods, and lakes associated with Late and Final Acheulian periods and Middle Palaeolithic period.25 They date the last wet period before the Holocene to 60 ka. This matches with a date for the Middle Stone age from 200 ka to 60 ka BC. The latest date for their stone age hand axes (Bifacial foliates type 20) extends into the Middle Palaeolithic.26 The Final Acheulian hand axe period is around 250 ka, there being evidence of these in the centre of the eastern lakes from this date.27 This gives a possible end date for the Wadi Muqaddam tools, but bifacial foliates date to the beginning of the 100 ka period, and may link to their presence in the Nile Valley at this time, indicating a possible route for migratory settlement or trade,28 suggesting the possible presence of Homo Sapiens Sapiens arriving before the ca. 60 ka northward migrations. This may be an indication of the early route north for mankind, but remains uncertain. Since the 1997 survey was done, Macaulay et al.29 have suggested in 2005 that early man, by following the Nile, left East Africa and headed into Europe crossing into Asia. This supposition is supported by Genome and archaeological evidence that supports the late date arrival of modern humans in Europe. The survey evidence can also be matched with the later periods in Nabta Playa.30 Wendorf indicates three distinct wet phases from 9800 to 3600 BC at the Nabta Playa, but he does record very early domestic cattle from the first phase, and the picture he draws of the playas seems similar to the Wadi Muqaddam, with different populations occupying the area in successive phases.31 He also records similarities of finds to those of Nile Valley settlements of this period32 such as lithic assemblages identical to those of El-Kab suggesting seasonal migrations of El-Ghorab groups to and fro between the Western Desert and the Nile Valley. He summarises that cattle domestication originates near the Nile Valley around 12,000 BC.33 All these tie in 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

Wendorf et al. 1993. Wendorf et al. 1993: 554. Wendorf et al. 1993: 255. Wendorf et al. 1993: 554. Wendorf et al. 1993: 573. Macaulay et al. 2005. Wendorf 1998: 97–123; Wendorf & Schild 2001. Wendorf & Schild 2001: 654. Wendorf & Schild 2001: 655. Wendorf & Schild 2001: 658.

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with the varying sites of Wadi Muqaddam. The final period of Napta Playa34 also recalls the ‘Neolithic Highway’ site BM 161, with increased occupation levels, and shallow hearths and piles of stones. Also stone tumuli are present there similar to the ones uncovered in the Butana Survey which we dated to the 3rd millennium, and which were recorded along the sides of the Wadi Muqaddam. Similar groups of tumuli from El-Bahrein oasis have all proved to be covering animal burials, which matches some of the finds in the survey area. Wendorf notes that in 1926 there were 341 similar tumuli associated with animal burials found near Er-Arib. This suggests that the older Wadi Muqaddam tumuli are associated with these older populations, and were potentially being used to mark the presence of the water courses across the deserts in dry periods, as these tumuli occur at oases and other sources of water such as playa lakes in Egypt. These reports also conclude that the populations creating these tumuli lived lives similar to the modern day Baggara nomadic cattle keeping tribes of Sudan and racially were more closely resembling the Sub-Saharan populations35. These Baggara tribes living in Northern Kordofan have close ties to the modern population of Dongola and in extreme drought move to the river there. The populations may also link to the tumuli settlements in the Malha Crater in Northern Darfur, which are at the head of Wadi el-Melik that joins the Nile to the north of Wadi Muqaddam36, these settlements are also dated to the Neolithic period. Late Palaeolithic sites are not found in Middle and Upper Egypt,37 perhaps due to later depositions, but the sites in Wadi Muqaddam show surviving near-by traditions with similar dependency on fish and water snails. The suggestion that crossing the Red Sea was easier for Middle and Late Palaeolithic man than following the Nile to Asia as a route out of Africa seems deeply implausible given the depth of the sea and the presence of Middle and Late Palaeolithic levels along the Nile. The survival of habitations up to the Nile in the Fayum in the Epi-Palaeolithic periods also shows the possible continuity of these routes, right through to the historical periods, and therefore the much more likely continuity of this route down which the earlier Neanderthals had already travelled into Europe. The Wadi Muqaddam alone proves that migration routes were being re-opened along established routes, even after periods of neglect, and like the migrating birds, following traditional routes even after the river itself had changed course was a part of the genetic makeup of the species, combined with the learning traditions of following previous signs of life. The crossing of the Red Sea in contrast seems a much more perilous journey and, given that the passage around the north and eastern sides of the sea once crossed at Suez was relatively straightforward, could easily explain the early arrival of Middle Palaeolithic settlements in Yemen. The use of the coast as a migration route by early fishermen would also explain this; even today Sudanese fishermen have been known to sail small sailing canoes up to Suez from Suakin, a far safer and more certain route than crossing in primitive rafts the straights at Bab el-Mandeb, which even if reduced to 12 miles wide (half the English channel) in ca. 50,000 BP, because of lower sea-levels, would have been a considerable risk.38 34 35 36 37 38

Wendorf & Schild 2001: 668. Wendorf & Schild 2001: 671. Dumont et al. 1993: 381–397. Nelson 2002: 5–22. Beyin 2011: 1–17.

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2.6 Bringing of the Foreign Tribute This occasion was seen as one of the key events of the annual Egyptian royal ritual celebration. The species depicted in scenes of foreigners bringing ‘tribute’ by New Kingdom Egyptian times were not present north of Meroe. The primary trade route to Napata, Kawa, and the New Kingdom forts was up from Korti. The Wadi Muqaddam route bypasses the 4th to 6th Cataracts, the Ed-Debba market marks a Nile crossing point which could be reached by donkey and foot in seven to ten days. Following around the Nile bend route is 800 km (497 miles) as opposed to the Wadi Muqaddam route of 290 km (185 miles) about 1/3rd the distance. The Post-Mesolithic deposits reflect the changing use of Wadi Muqaddam, and the nature of the development of the modern Nubian people. Since the publication of ʻNubia: Corridor to Africaʼ39 what had been defined by Reisner as successive arrivals of different people has now been re-calibrated to be seen as a similar population going through successive cultural changes. Adams sees the different historic periods in terms of tribal, dynastic and medieval periods of the same populations. Wadi Muqaddam provides a miniature model of this larger Nile map and in different periods helps illustrate how the continuous memory of each successive age (now including the modern age with its new road) has helped develop its continued use as the great ‘short cut’ of the Nile Valley. In its unique location at the head waters of the area traditionally defined as Nubia it also extends the influence of this culture into the area of the confluence of the Niles, and explains how Khartoum itself was an important centre from long before its modern manifestations. The Upper Nubian populations that occupy areas of the Shendi reach are also those whose nomadic relatives occupy the Wadi Muqaddam, mirroring their tribal differences at the upper, lower and middle parts of the wadi. This essential stability also suggests that the wadi has been treated by these people as extensions of the same river. The semi-nomadic nature of the Nile population at this point40 is characterised by their continued dependence on livestock such as sheep, goats, and cattle, but also the inhospitality of the Upper Nubian Nile valley due to Nimitti (Simulium Griseicollis) or Black Flies (Simulium Damnosum) in the spring still forces the populations to move to the desert during the spring time. This encourages a wider view of these local populations engagement with their landscape than that of the more settled northern populations. It also explains why at times parts of that landscape were so easily abandoned and reoccupied depending on the specific local conditions, either natural or political. The river in the cataract region was for much of the year dangerous to navigate for long distances due to the rocks at low and the flood at high Nile, and the large bend also removes the assistance of the prevailing north winds against the current that allows Egypt to be so easily navigated. In this region, foot travel assisted by beasts of burden has been the dominant long distance transport. Permanent nomadic tribes have also had a historical presence in the region, with members of the Ababda also occasionally settling along the river. This tribe has links to the Red Sea Hills, and the route to this region through the mountain wadis is also marked with memorial mounds far from the River Nile (surveyed in 2014 by Michael Mallinson) including Chert Tumuli, Box Graves and Fishtail graves that also characterise the Wadi Muqaddam. This suggests that the association of the later medieval cemeteries links to Nile river beds are less 39 40

Adams 1977: 5. Adams 1977: 54.

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important than the earlier ones, and that these are, in the later periods, more closely linked to specific cross desert routes. To consider the historical importance of the Wadi Muqaddam’s later finds, it needs to be seen in the context of development of Napatan and later Meroitic civilisation. Meroe’s position as a capital city is attributed41 to its position at the point where the crossing of the Bayuda bypasses the adverse winds of the 4th/5th Cataracts. The site at Fura Wells was identified as the mid-point in the trade route, but in comparison the wells across the Wadi Muqaddam are more frequent and also the cemeteries provide evidence of more continuous routes than the Bayuda roads. The importance of the Napatan trade route to Wadi Muqaddam is also shown by the series of stone buildings discovered by Tim Kendall’s surveys42 which join the wadi at Tamtam, marking a control point for trade to the south. Equally, at the southern head of the Wadi Muqaddam, routes to Soba link to the Southern and Eastern Meroitic regions where water was more freely available to navigate, as far as Jebel Moya near Sennar. The route to Meroe was described by Herodotus in the 5th c. as a 40-day land journey to the end of the cataracts followed by a 12-day boat journey. It is not clear what route was followed, two locations for the city of Meroe described are suggested: that of Merowe at Karima; which is at the end of the first clear stretch after the 3rd Cataract from Dongola, and the other at Meroe near Kabushiya; which is at the end of the first clear stretch after the 5th Cataract from Abu Hamed. The distance for both is 230 km and to achieve this in 12 days against the Nile current is a rate of 20 km a day, which is very fast against the Nile requiring a speed of 2 or 3 km hour against a low Nile (Fig. 14). The alternative of following the route alongside the Wadi Muqaddam branch to Soba and then from Soba to Meroe downstream for a distance of 120 km makes more sense of Herodotus’s description than the Bayuda crossing which reaches the Nile very close to Meroe. The Bayuda crossing via Fura Wells is 230 km with only the one well, the Wadi Muqaddam is 280 km, with regular wells, and a route marked out with cemetery mounds and lined with Acacia scrub for substantial lengths of the route; currently this green part of the wadi is only 150 km from the Nile bend, making the actual desert part of the journey 100 km shorter than the Fura Wells crossing. The 40 days of travel could, therefore, in the 5th c., have been a description of walking beside the Nile and then, possibly, following the Wadi Muqaddam route cutting the Nile bend to near Khartoum. This is a distance of 1100 km, which at 27 km a day is achievable with regular water supply from the Nile or the Muqaddam’s wells. After this the text implies that the traveller would take a boat downstream to Meroe. The Nile’s flow is 0.54 km/h in the non-flood season, which makes it 18 hours drifting a day, or if some rowing is applied, a speed of 12 km a day is quite plausible, whereas the distance from Abu Hamed to Meroe and Dongola to Karima is much further. This shows that Herodotus’s description could refer to the Wadi Muqaddam route. The route is measured from an island about 50 miles south of Aswan. Herodotus, Book II, 29–30: As one advances beyond Elephantine, the land rises. … Here you land, and travel for forty days along the banks of the river, since it is impossible to proceed further in a boat on account of the sharp peaks which jut out from the water, and the sunken rocks which abound in that part of the 41 42

Adams 1977: 303. Mallinson et al. 1998. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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stream. When you have passed this portion of the river in the space of forty days, you go on board another boat and proceed by water for twelve days more, at the end of which time you reach a great city called Meroe, which is said to be the capital of the other Ethiopians. The only gods worshipped by the inhabitants are Jupiter and Bacchus, to whom great honours are paid. There is an oracle of Jupiter in the city, which directs the warlike expeditions of the Ethiopians; when it commands they go to war, and in whatever direction it bids them march, thither straightway they carry their arms. On leaving this city, and again mounting the stream, in the same space of time which it took you to reach the capital from Elephantine, you come to the Deserters, who bear the name of Asmach. This word, translated into our language, means “the men who stand on the left hand of the king.” These Deserters are Egyptians of the warrior caste, who, to the number of two hundred and forty thousand, went over to the Ethiopians in the reign of king Psammetichus. ... Arrived in Ethiopia, they placed themselves at the disposal of the king. In return, he made them a present of a tract of land which belonged to certain Ethiopians with whom he was at feud, bidding them expel the inhabitants and take possession of their territory. From the time that this settlement was formed, their acquaintance with Egyptian manners has tended to civilise the Ethiopians.

If it was the northern Meroe, the two Niles that Napata is located between would be the Main Nile and the Wadi Muqaddam, one of which could have been seasonal, but the Muqaddam did at least in route or memory rejoin the White Nile at Khartoum, explaining why the description states that the Eastern Nile rejoins the Western Nile further south. Although this seems strange, the Muqaddam may have been a seasonal river still, and so was still identified as part of the Nile. The memory of it flowing from the White Nile would explain why it was also remembered to rejoin at Khartoum. By the time of Strabo and Ptolemy, writing respectively 460 and 500 years later, the location of the two Meroes was much more clearly understood, and evidently, they are referring to the Southern Meroe, as by then the Wadi Muqaddam no longer flowed, Strabo assigned the historic names to the seasonal Atbara and the constant main Nile, but maintained the memory of the two Niles rejoining. Clearly the Atbara never rejoined the Blue Nile, and so no traveler could ever have made this mistake. This would mean that historically the Island of Meroe was the Bayuda desert, and this idea was transferred with the relocation of Meroe to the Butana. This may seem a strange reassignment, but the transfer of places and landscapes is quite common in the ancient world, with burial grounds and rivers assigned significance and names associated with ancient cities after which they are named. The New Romes were built on New Tibers. This could be the explanation of why Herodotus refers to a second city a similar distance south from the first Meroe where the deserters had gone, as the trek around the Abu Hamed bend from 4th to 5th Cataract is about the same distance as the 2nd to the 3rd Cataract (350 km). The up-stream distance as stated above is also then about a further 230 km, making the two journeys similar. If Meroe at Kabushiya was the place of this name referred to here, then the second city would have to have been in Ethiopia or Uganda to be the same distance fromAswan, which seems unlikely. The much simpler explanation of the two Meroe’s similar distances from the next cataract to the north’s cataracts ends and the two rivers being re-assigned further south seems to have a simpler explanation of travelers’ tales, particularly as both the Wadi Muqaddam and the Atbara were seasonal streams.

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Strabo, Book 17, Ch. 1: He says, that the Nile is distant from the Arabian Gulf towards the west 1000 stadia, and that it resembles (in its course) the letter N reversed. For after flowing, he says, about 2700 stadia from Meroe towards the north, it turns again to the south, and to the winter sunset, continuing its course for about 3700 stadia, when it is almost in the latitude of the places about Meroe. Then entering far into Africa, and having made another bend, it flows towards the north, a distance of 5300 stadia, to the great cataract; and inclining a little to the east, traverses a distance of 1200 stadia to the smaller cataract at Syene, and 5300 stadia more to the sea. [218] Two rivers empty themselves into it, which issue out of some lakes towards the east, and encircle Meroe, a [219] considerable island. One of these rivers is called Astaboras, flowing along the eastern side of the island. The other is the Astapus, or, as some call it, Astasobas. But the Astapus is said to be another river, which issues out of some lakes on the south, and that this river forms nearly the body of the (stream of the) Nile, which flows in a straight line, and that it is filled by the summer rains; that above the confluence of the Astaboras and the Nile, at the distance of 700 stadia, is Meroe, a city having the same name as the island; and that there is another island above Meroe, occupied by the fugitive Egyptians, who revolted in the time of Psammitichus, and are called Sembritae, or foreigners. Their sovereign is a queen, but they obey the king of Meroe. Ptolemy, Book 4, Ch. 6: To the west, from this part of the Nile river, those occupy the land after the Greater Cataract, who pasture the Triacontaschoenus region between the Aethiopian mountains and the Nile river, after these toward the south are the Euonymitae; then Aethiopia Media and the Sebridae; these races also inhabit the island of Meroë, and below tamen are the Gapachi; below these the Ptoemphanae, and below these the Cadupi; next to these are the Elpehnatophagi Aethiopes; below these the Pesendarae, and beyond the lake the Cinnamon-bearing land; moreover between the Nile and the Astapus river, toward the island of Meroë, are the Memnones and more to the south are the Sapaei. In the remaining parts of the land toward the west from the Aethiopian mountains next to the sandy and dry region dwell the Phazaniae and the Bacalitides races; then the Scenitae and the Tralletae, after these the race of the Daradi; then the Orypaei Venatores next to these the Nygbenitae Aethiopians.

The question as to why Meroe was built further north than Khartoum, if the main trade route followed the Wadi Muqaddam, is its good location with routes to the Red Sea where much of Roman trade was then developing, and also the significance of the Atbara as a trade route to Ethiopia, shown by its being the preferred route for Axumite trade and warfare. Its position halfway between the Atbara and the Blue Nile may also be significant, as the return trade route to Napata may have passed entirely by river in the inundation seasons, travel downstream being significantly easier when the river is higher, allowing for a seasonal northwards trade connected also with trade coming down the Atbara that flows only in the rainy season. The development of seasonal routes seems to be key to understanding the significance of this region. The importance of the above discussion reflects that Wadi Muqaddam was a known trade route to the southern Upper Nile and was developed during the historic periods, although finds from the Napatan period on the survey were few. This might be explained because Meroe was not yet a major city, just a location where the Meroitic king wished to expand his influence as indicated by the story of the deserters. Once Meroe was established, Wadi Muqaddam became an important access route, hence the need to control it, and the Meroitic tumuli along its course. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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As the city of Meroe and surrounding area developed, the Wadi Muqaddam remained active into the Post-Meroitic period with kom graves and some massive tumuli similar to those of Hobagi in the area north of Khartoum. Later, the route was clearly that of access to the Christian kingdoms as medieval box grave cemeteries are added to the earlier tumuli, marking both the route, but also perhaps claiming it for the Christian kingdoms – this other Nile that formed the shortest safest route to the north. In the passage of time and with more extensive use of camels, other more direct routes developed as areas of the Bayuda became safer to cut the corner off without the risk of missing wells being so disastrous. This may explain the preference for the Fura Wells route by the 17th c. However, the development of Khartoum in the 19th c. made the Wadi Muqaddam again a major thoroughfare which it remained until finally macadamized in 1998. The survey we carried out has revealed this changing history of preference and memory for crossing the Bayuda, which has followed geographic, spiritual and mercantile courses since man first ventured out of Africa.

2.7 The Modern Nile Recent studies of the ground water in the Wadi Muqaddam wells have shown water isotopes that match the Nile Valley.43 The main study shows that the signature isotopes (signature range 4) of wells along the river Nile banks match those in hand dug wells along the Wadi Muqaddam (Fig. 17). That this recent isotope matches the Nile Valley wells is suggested to be due to flooding which provides evidence of a more modern link between the Nile and Wadi Muqaddam, giving evidence of the wadi’s activity. There are also older isotopes (signature range 5) which suggest ground water 3500 years old at deeper levels (10 to 100 m). The deeper, 10 m plus, ground water is seen to indicate a transition period where flooding events are mixing with palaeo-groundwater, but shows that isotope evidence of the flooding goes back to the periods we have been reviewing. That sufficient water was present to significantly dilute the palaeo-groundwater to a depth of 100 m, bearing in mind that the modern Nile penetrates the ground water only 5–6 m/a to a max of 25 km from the river, indicates that there must have been a substantial flow to appear in wells 150 km into the Wadi Muqaddam only a few thousand years ago. This provides further evidence of the size of the ancient Wadi Muqaddam possible Nile branch. The question of the future of Wadi Muqaddam is therefore a key point for assessment from the results of the survey. The utilisation of the waters of the Nile is the future of modern Sudan and the surrounding countries. The agreements that control and restrict the use of the Nile waters date back to the 1920s, and have not been ratified by recent governments. Ethiopia continues to explore ways of damming the Blue Nile, and in Sudan already five dam projects are projected, with the raising of the Roseries Dam, and with dams at the 3rd and 5th Cataracts threatening the archaeology of the region.44 The creation of a spillway in Egypt at Toshka has transformed the landscape, as well as threatened previously untouched archaeological areas. The changing hydrology of the river and the clear potential for Wadi Muqaddam to be exploited in the future, with its wide flood plain, silt areas and shallow surface water, requires only a 43 44

Vrbk et al. 2008: 345–346. Said 1993: 259–270.

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River bank wells and Wadi Muqaddam wells lie in similar cenozoic levels.

Wells deeper than 10 m indicate older flooding ca. 5000 BP.

River bank wells and the Wadi Muqaddam are similar although more than 120 miles away from the river.

Evidence as detailed below shows that this ground water similarity is due to flood events from Nile water.

This similarity can not be due to seepage from the current Nile as the distance is too far. As indicated by the distance it could have moved since the wet period.

Along the major wadi, the Wadi Muqaddam, ground water with δ 2 = –40 % to –60% (range 5) can be found sporadically in patches, adjacent to the ‘paleogroundwater’ (range 6). Most of the samples are taken from water yards tapping the main acquifer body at greater depth. Some samples from relatively deep (some 10 m to > 100 m) hand dug-wells have a comparable signature. These samples in range 5 may represent paleo-groundwater partly mixed with relatively younger flood events; average values have been formed during the last thousand years. However, there is also the probability that some of these waters were formed during a transition time some thousands of years ago when the climate was shifting from more humid, cooler conditions to the modern dry and hot climate. Samples taken in the south, in the vicinity of 14° N, indicate relatively younger recharge events, based on stable isotopes and 14Cvalues. In the area south of the Wadi Muqaddam and south-west of Khartoum, there is a combination of relatively high precipitation (>200 mm/a).

Several studies have proven that significant groundwater recharge occurs along perennial river courses, principally through river bank filtration. Other areas of groundwater recharge are large irrigation schemes, e.g. in the Gezira and at Dongola, where Nile water is used for irrigation purposes. In cases where irrigation schemes also use ground water, recycling of the ground water of the recharge from rivers occurs. Due to evaporation effects such recharge may in the long term lead to salinity increase and isotopic enrichment. The strong influence of river water on the ground water is traceable as far as 20–25 km away from the rivers. Flow distance of the groundwater and its age, based on 14C, correspond to a groundwater linear velocity of 5–6 m/a. Moving 5–6 km/ka would take the groundwater 3500 to 5000 years to cover a distance of 20–25 km. This time span corresponds well with the end of the last humid period in North-East Africa.

Fig. 17: Wadi Muqaddam – A modern Nile channel? Recent recharge events suggest possible paleochannels still carry ground water (Vbrka et al. 2008: 337–347).

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small diversion of either water, or power to pump the wells to change a semi-arid region. The evidence of modern occupation of what seems like empty desert already indicates the potential, and the pressures on other areas of Sudan due to conflict and shortage of grazing area already have pushed nomads from other regions into the south of the Wadi Muqaddam area. Since 1998, irrigation farms have sprung up along the road way. As a result of this modernisation, without a rapid completion of this research, the archaeology of the wadi, which could also be a potential key to the development of the region, will be lost.

3. Summary of the Detailed Results of the Wadi Muqaddam Survey 172 sites were discovered, dating for majority has been established, and primary history of region laid out. Laurence Smith details this in the finds descriptions in the section to follow.

3.1 Stone Age Largest cash of Acheulian tools outside of Khor Abu Anga, and possible large settlement sites found in centre of the Bayuda desert. Lower Palaeolithic occupation of the Wadi Muqaddam was revealed in the survey at site BM 69.2 (Fig. 18–19).

3.2 Mesolithic Surface finds of Mesolithic pottery. Two large sites at BM 115 and BM 61 and one smaller at BM 84 (Fig. 20).

3.3 Neolithic The ‘Neolithic Highway’ sites 115.1, 74.2 & 118.4 (Figs. 21–24).

3.4 Napatan A clear Napatan trade route is defined. Napatan pottery (at sites BM 57.2 & 113.2), and the chance find in 1920 of a Napatan faience amulet now in the Khartoum Museum (SNM 1920). Potential 2nd millennium ‘Kom Graves’ at site BM 171–172, and beside the River Nile at BM 229 (Fig. 27).

3.5 Meroitic The importance of the route in this period is shown by the Meroitic tumuli at a number of sites along the wadi, e.g. BM 90 and 61. This showed a settled population with clear links to © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 18: Lower Palaeolithic – Acheulean hand axes: Site 69.2.

Fig. 19: Roe plots of the Bifaces and Acheulean hand axe tool sets: Site 69.2.

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Fig. 20: Khartoum Mesolithic – Sites 115.1, 84 & 61.

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Fig. 21: Neolithic – Site 115.1 & 74.2.

Fresh water snail shells

Fresh water molluscs

Fig. 22: Evidence of freshwater life in the Wadi Muqaddam – ‘Neolithic Highway’ site BM 115.

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Fig. 23: ‘Neolithic Highway’ site 115.

Fig. 24: Late Neolithic/3rd millennium – Site 118.4.

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Fig. 25: 2nd millennium hollow grave sites BM 171–172.

Fig. 26: Chert tumuli beside Nile river at BM 229 – Post-Meroitic and possible 2nd millennium?

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Fig. 27: Napatan – Site 57.2; Meroitic – Sites 171.3 & 59.3.

Grind stone from site 33 – Grinding areas on sandstone outcrops Meroitic thumb ring from site 59.3 – Meroitic Graves

Fig. 28: Meroitic sites.

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the Meroitic riverain civilisations. The pottery finds at 171.3 and 59.3 near these sites further substantiates this, and supports Herodotus and later descriptions of a link to the south (Fig. 28).

3.6 Post-Meroitic Continued use of the routes. Although less Post-Meroitic pottery was found, the Kom Grave types characteristic of the period and continuing into the early Medieval period abound. Scarcity of Post-Meroitic material was also characteristic of the earlier survey in the Butana and may reflect the lack of robbing of graves from this period. The respect for these burials is shown by the discovery of the remains of a burial offering celebration still in situ beside an undisturbed grave. Possibly cultural memory of ‘Anag’and a fear of disturbing recent ancestral spirits may have protected these sites, whereas the older Meroitic tumuli are frequently robbed, perhaps due to the known richness of the burials (Fig. 29).

Ostrich beads from different periods – Site 179

Post-Meroitic ‘Kom Grave’

Post-Meroitic giant tumulus at site BM 26

Fig. 29: Post-Meroitic sites in the Wadi Muqaddam.

3.7 Medieval Christian Trade throughout the Christian period is shown in the large number of Christian pottery types discovered in the survey, with possible Dongola ware, Aswani ware, pilgrim flasks and Christian beer jars similar to those at Soba, being found scattered amongst the tumuli. Christian box graves attest to major medieval trade routes in the later periods (Figs. 30–32).

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Fig. 30: Medieval/Early Christian – Site 171.7.

Kom Grave – Site 179.

Christian Box Grave – Site 118.

Fig. 31: Medieval period structures.

Fig. 32: Christian – Sites 71.2 & 71.21.

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3.8 Late Medieval By the end of the Medieval period trade routes were beginning to be developed that by-passed the Nile valley for political and religious reasons with the increase of Islam and the Red Sea trade routes. The later period pottery reflects trade route dates between the 13th–16th c. Islamic markers and burials show continued use, and links to modern tribes living along the Nile (Figs. 33–34).

Fig. 33: Late Christian/Islamic – Sites 117 & 50.4.

Fig. 34: Late Christian/Islamic – Site 50.4.

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3.9 Modern Modern remains and new roads attest to continued primacy of this trade route to the present day. Despite desertification, the region is still populated, and new irrigation methods are seeing the desert blooming again, threatening the archaeology of the Wadi Muqaddam (Fig. 35).

Fig. 35: Undated Finds.

The site descriptions are in an early stage of development. They will be published as a monograph by SARS. These will be the basis for further studies where required. The detailed descriptions of these finds are provided by L. M. V. Smith.

4. Small Finds and Pottery Dating (L. M. V. Smith) This section describes the main groups of artefacts found during the survey most relevant to the dating of the sites located. The basic strategy for collection of artefacts was that adopted in the earlier survey from Begrawiya to Atbara45 in that collections were made in transects over sites but modified where the concentration of artefacts was too sparse to warrant this method of collection. In the latter case, samples were taken from approximately circular areas of about 2–3 m diameter, as far as possible distributed evenly over the area of a site, or from denser scatters of material where this occurred in small concentrations, rather than being distributed over a site. To date, the material collected has been assigned to eight periods, ranging from the Palaeolithic to Islamic and relatively recent times.

4.1 Lower Palaeolithic The earliest material evident along the line of the survey are the hand axes, which were all recovered from a single site, site 69.2. All appear to have been made from the same raw material, for which a preliminary identification of ferricrete sandstone has been made. Several are rather weathered and have been damaged in antiquity; however, the original shape in most 45

Mallinson et al. 1996.

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cases can be reconstructed. Those that were most extensively abraded were not included in the metric analysis. Seven of the bifaces were classified as points, two as ovates and one as a cleaver, according to a metrical analysis carried out according to procedures established by Roe.46 Several of the pointed hand axes have parallels in Khor Abu Anga. Hand axe S01 (Fig. 18, left) is generally similar in shape to Khor Abu Anga hand axe 4146, though smaller; S02 (Fig. 19, right) can be paralleled by specimens from Khor Abu Anga and Wadi Afu. Hand axe S05 has a distinctive shape, being noticeably narrowed at the proximal end. It approaches the shape of a ‘Micoquian’ type hand axe known in small numbers from Khor Abu Anga. However, in its shape in plan it is reasonably close to an example from Wadi Afu. S03 (Fig. 19, left) is similar to types of ovates recognised at Arkin 8, in the Wadi Halfa region. S09 (Fig. 19, centre) is slightly asymmetric, with a distinct point, and has reasonably close parallels in the southern and the northern areas, eg. at Khor Abu Anga and Wadi Afu in the south and at Arkin 8 in the north.47 Overall, the sample of bifaces collected from site 69.2 can be considered as ‘classic’ Acheulean in type. On this basis, the assemblage would be assignable to a period equivalent to the ‘Nubian Early Stone Age’ identified in Lower Nubia.48 Although the number of hand axes in relation to bifaces is higher, particularly at site 69.2, than in other Nubian Early Stone Age sites investigated by the Scandinavian Joint Expedition,49 the hand axes provide evidence for human presence and activity along the present line of the Wadi Muqaddam as early as the Lower Palaeolithic.

4.2 Khartoum Mesolithic Most decoration types assigned to this period are varieties of comb-impressed and rockerstamp decoration. The most characteristic decorations noted are the Wavy Line and Dotted Wavy Line styles (Fig. 20a–e), though these specific decorations occur only on a relatively small number of sherds. Examples from site 115.1 are similar to that of the Early Khartoum Mesolithic as seen at the Khartoum Hospital site itself50 and at Shaqadud.51 Other major types include: dotted undulating lines composed of closely-spaced comb impressions (Fig. 20f); closely-packed zigzags composed of square or rectangular impressions, forming a reticulated pattern over the vessel surface, ranging from very regular (Fig. 20g–h) to irregular (Fig. 20i); packed zigzags forming lines at an oblique angle (Fig. 20j). This decoration is similar in part to D92 in the classification of ceramics from the Begrawiya-Atbara survey;52 a series of long or short straight incised lines, quite closely spaced, at right angles to the rim (Fig. 20k). This is a characteristic decoration at the rim, noted especially at site 115.1. A relatively small number of rim sherds were recovered: most could be assigned to various forms of moderately or strongly inturned bowls or jars (Fig. 20l–n). 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

Smith 2003; Roe 1994. Arkell 1949b: Pls. 3.1, 5.1, 12.1, 18.2 & 19.1; Chmielewski 1968: 110–134. Marks 1970: 18, 23. Marks 1970: 23–24. Arkell 1949a: Pls. 60, 61 & 72. Caneva & Marks 1990: Pls. 4.1, 3 & 5. Smith 1996: 182, Pl. 15.2.

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The dating of this material to the Mesolithic is based mainly on its association with the Wavy Line and Dotted Wavy Line motifs at site 115.1 and the lack, in the sample taken from this site, of decorations characteristic of the ‘Neolithic of Khartoum Tradition’, particularly ‘fish-scale’ pattern, elements comprising ‘vees’, and overlapping panels composed of semi-circular lines as at the site of El-Gharba.53 In order to supplement dating on stylistic grounds, AMS dating of sherds from site 115.1 with a high content of organic temper surviving was undertaken.54 The Radiocarbon age and the calibrated date range are shown in Fig 2. The calibrated dates at 2σ are quite consistent and indicate the pottery, and presumably at least part of the occupation of yite 115.1, dates to the latter half of the 7th millennium BC, possibly extending into the early 6th millennium BC. This dating is consistent with other sites designated generally ‘Khartoum Mesolithic’ in the area of El-Geili (ca. 6660–5000 BC) and on the northern Blue Nile,55 and so supports the attribution of site 115.1 to this tradition. The range of decoration types, particularly the zigzag motifs, including ‘packed and dotted’ types, is similar to that found in the upper headwaters of the Wadi Muqaddam, to the south of the part surveyed in the SARS Survey. Such types in the headwaters area have been noted to be similar to those occurring generally within the region during 8th and 7th millennia BC.56

4.3 Neolithic The Neolithic is one of the periods for which there appears to be relatively little evidence, especially for the Neolithic of ‘Khartoum’-type, amongst the ceramics recovered in the survey surface collections. In terms of vessel form, one site, site 74.2, yielded quite large rim sherds from a moderately inturned bowl or jar, having a somewhat ‘club-shaped’ cross-section (Fig. 21a). This cross-section is comparable to that of bowls from Shaheinab and from the Neolithic of El-Geili.57 The few other rim sherds were mainly from thin-walled inturned vessels. Rim crosssections are usually thinned at the lip, being approximately straight on the interior and convex on the exterior (Fig. 21b–c). There is one decorative motif (Fig. 21d) on certain of the sherds in the vegetable-tempered fabric recovered from site 115.1 which is similar to some varieties of rocker-stamp with evenly spaced packed dots from El-Geili, dated there to the Neolithic period, but which may also be of equivalent date to the ‘Pre-Kerma’ further north. A decoration (Fig. 21e) comprising rocker-stamp in evenly-spaced dots is similar to another type of decoration known from the Neolithic of El-Geili.58 Apart from this, a number of sherds were in fabric fairly similar to that of material from the Begrawiya-Atbara Survey that could be assigned a Neolithic date on the basis of rim form and decoration. Only a small number of rim sherds were recovered, mostly from small, 53 54 55 56 57 58

Arkell 1953: 71–73, Pls. 30.1–2, Pls. 32.1 & 7; Lecointe 1987: Figs. 6a–b. The dating was carried out by Rafter Radiocarbon Laboratory, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, New Zealand, to whom thanks are due. Edwards 2004: 24–25. Hosfield et al. 2015: 22–23, Pl. 4; Jesse 2010: 230. Arkell 1953: Pl. 36; Caneva 1988, Fig. 4.9. Caneva 1988: Fig. 8.4, Fig. 7.5.

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thin-walled inturned vessels. Two of the main discernible decorations, paralleled by motifs known from Neolithic contexts elsewhere, are as follows: rocker-stamp decoration, apparently executed with a plain edge, forming approximately straight, moderately-spaced, zigzags (Fig. 21f); single, virtually horizontal rows of square to oval impressions, spaced 0.5-1 mm apart laterally, the rows being spaced 3–4 mm apart vertically, with each dot in one row placed in between the dots in the corresponding positions in the rows above and below (Fig. 21g). While decoration 21g is present in Neolithic contexts at El-Geili and at a number of other sites in the Nile Valley, it can be seen at Shaqadud, for example, in the central Nile Valley sites, that similar decoration types are present in the Mesolithic levels as well, termed ‘Dotted Straight Line’.59 The differentiation is based on a greater prevalent in Neolithic contexts, ranging between 9.7 % and 23.5 % at some of the main excavated Neolithic sites, such as Kadero.60 So this indicates that the motif comprising lines of dots on the Bayuda sherd could represent material of Neolithic date, but there is still the possibility of its being earlier, so that it cannot unambiguously support the identification of Neolithic sites.

4.4 Napatan Site 57.2 provided the main sample of ceramics considered to be of Napatan date. Characteristic forms include, for example, a jar rim, moderately outflaring, with a rounded rim profile (Fig. 27). Body sherds include wheel-made examples with relatively thick walls (ca. 1.5 cm) and with a moderate degree of curvature indicating that they come from vessels of appreciable size, ca. 24–26 cm in diameter, likely to be large jars or amphorae. Some eroded sherds, most from site 113.2, exhibit a light orange-brown fired colour, and a fine texture in fabric, characterised by fine voids representing vegetable temper and rare black iron oxide fragments. This fabric is similar to the fabric of Group 11 from the BegrawiyaAtbara Survey,61 which can be identified as coming from vessels of Egyptian origin, in forms having short necks and small handles, most commonly manufactured during the 25th–30th Dynasties.62 On this basis, given the similarity in fabric to the Egyptian material, the Bayuda sherds can be regarded as generally of Napatan date. A unique body sherd, badly eroded, from a vessel made in a marl clay may represent the only other evidence recovered for the period from the Napatan to the Meroitic. The marl clay fabric would be consistent with an Egyptian provenance, being the fabric of small vessels of the Persian period occurring, for example, in embalmers’ caches at Saqqara.63 Since Egyptian control did not extend over the Bayuda region in this period, the sherd is likely to represent material traded into the more southerly areas of Upper Nubia. The sherd is of interest in terms of the periods to which it may be assigned and its probable provenance well to the north of the Bayuda.

59 60 61 62 63

Mohammed-Ali 1991: 73. Caneva 1988: 94–96, 112; Marks & Mohammed-Ali: 1991, Table 11.5; Krzyzaniak 1984. Smith 1996: 184. Pamela J. Rose, personal communication 1997; Janine D. Bourriau, personal communication 1999. Janine D. Bourriau, personal communication 1999.

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4.5 Meroitic Sites dateable to the Meroitic period along the line of the Road are mainly identifiable through the forms of the funerary structures apparent on the surface; the proportion of sherds clearly identifiable as being of this period is not large. The most clearly diagnostic material consists of sherds of apparently handmade ‘footed stands’ or ‘offering tables’, so far identified from sites 171.3 and 59.3, although the examples from the latter site are very fragmentary. (Fig. 27). These types may be closest to the forms of ‘offering table’ from the West Cemetery at Meroe illustrated by Dunham.64 A portion of a thumb ring was recovered from site 59.3, which also provided some of the probable Meroitic ‘offering-table’ sherds. In terms of its present size, the thumb-ring is 3.2 cm long, with a maximum diameter of 3.8 cm, thus having proportions of length to diameter approaching 1:1 (Fig. 28). It is noticeably straight-sided. In terms of Hayes classification, it appears nearest to Type II, a type considered to be an archer’s loose, rather than ring or mace-head. Hayes’ chronology would place this type in the period ca. 100 BC – ca. 200 AD.65 Although the form of the thumb ring is similar to some from other areas, eg. Faras, Hammur El-Abbassia and Soba, in Post-Meroitic or Christian period contexts,66 the latter may be reused in the context in which they were found, or have been made at a later period than their type would suggest.67 Given the Bayuda specimen’s association at site 59.3 with the ‘offering table’ sherds, a Meroitic or Post-Meroitic dating remains the most likely, although taking into account Allason-Jones’ remark about the thumb rings from Soba, a later date cannot be definitely excluded.

4.6 Medieval Period 4.6.1 Early Christian The most clearly identifiable ceramics are those dating from the earliest part of the Christian period. These include a ribbed sherd with an orange-red slip (Fig. 30a) together with a few sherds of thin-walled bowls (Fig. 30b–c). One is eroded at the rim, but sufficient is present to indicate that it probably had a slightly asymmetric conical profile in its original state. A sherd of a second bowl has a similar form, but has traces of a white slip on the interior, the exterior being eroded. In terms of form, its stance is generally similar to that of a small open bowl from Old Dongola although in fabric, the Bayuda specimen cannot be assigned to the Old Dongola production site specifically.68 A few sherds from site 171.7 form a bowl decorated on the exterior with a diamond-shaped motif, infilled with cross-hatching, with a horizontal line extending from it all in white on a 64 65 66 67 68

Dunham 1963: Figs. C.27–28. Hayes 1973: 114–116, Fig. 4. Säve-Söderbergh et al. 1981: 65–66, Pl. 95.1; Jacke Phillips, personal communication 1998; El-Tayeb 1998: 37; Allason-Jones 1998, 76; Fig. 32; Allason-Jones 1991a: 163, Fig. 81, 496. Allason-Jones 1991b: 147. Pluskota 1991: 39, 45, No. 23; Krzysztof Pluskota, personal communication 1998.

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black background (Fig. 30d). Similar geometric motifs are known from the early Christian material at Old Dongola. For example, designs incorporating similar lozenge-shapes infilled with cross-hatching (though in black on a white background) occur on material dated to the ‘Transitional Period’, in the chronology of Adams and are described by Pluskota.69 Given the similarities in form and decoration, the Bayuda example can be dated to the ‘Transitional Period’ and thus clearly indicates the presence of material dating to the earliest part of the Christian period. 4.6.2 Christian Other material from the survey cannot be so closely dated and, at the current stage of research, can only be assigned generally to the Christian period. Such material includes the neck and rim of a small amphora or pilgrim-flask (Fig. 16a). Although this is similar in form to some material from the Aswan area, such as that imported to Gabati, or excavated at Elephantine, the fabric of the Gabolab Survey example differs from that of Aswani products so that it is most likely to be a Nubian-made vessel, as known from Ghazali (Type L2), Soba (Type 18E) or Old Dongola.70 Examples of sherds representing the largest portions of vessels found, comprise jars with approximately vertical necks and plain rims, and jars with distinctly outflaring rims (Fig. 32b–e). These can be quite closely paralleled by some of the jar types at Soba, such as 7L, 46L, 46.1L, 51L or 53L,71 though with some differences in diameter and proportions of neck to rim. Open forms include a portion of a bowl with moderately-sloping sides. In cross-section, the body wall is thickened for about a quarter of its depth below the rim. (Fig. 32f). This bowl is generally similar to types at Soba in the range 105N to 112N72 in overall stance and profile. Decorations include plastic decoration such as that comprising roughly-executed, partly overlapping oval impressions separated by steep ridges (Fig. 32 g). This type is reasonably well paralleled at Soba in decorations 71.2 and 71.21.73 Such parallels noted in vessel form and in decoration are sufficient to indicate the presence of sites most probably datable to the Christian period. 4.6.3 Later Christian and Earlier Islamic Material currently datable only to later medieval times, ranging from the Christian to the early Islamic period, has been recovered from several of the sites. Forms include inturned jars, such as those from site 117 that have irregular flattened blobs of clay applied to the exterior (Fig. 33a). These may be a form of plastic decoration, or act as small lugs. Certain of the sherds from site 115.1 may be assigned a generally ‘Medieval’ date, appearing similar in form and decoration to material from further north belonging to the Medieval period.74 These sherds 69 70 71 72 73 74

Adams 1986: Fig. 2; Pluskota 1990: Fig. 5, top right; bottom row, left. Shinnie & Chittick 1961: Fig. 17; Welsby 1991: Fig. 88; Jacke Phillips, personal communication 1998. Welsby 1991: Figs. 97–99; Welsby 1998: Fig. 44. Welsby 1991: Fig. 109. Welsby 1998: Fig. 60. Isabella Welsby-Sjöström, personal communication 1998.

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have a rim cross-section thickened on the interior, with a flattened, somewhat convex top, and a slight lip at the junction of the rim top and the interior wall. Decoration involves a series of flattened ‘X’-shaped incised motifs on the top of the rim (Fig. 33b–c). Decoration types that further illustrate the range of those encountered on the survey are, at present, only assignable to this later Medieval period. Decorations in this category include incised motifs, for example, zigzags in short or long double lines, and forms of cross-hatched decoration (Fig. 33d–f). Plastic decoration includes thick, somewhat angular cordons, with deep oval impressions along them, and probable mat impressions (for example Fig. 2g–i). Amongst these decorations, that shown in Fig. 33d, for example, has some similarities to decorations known from Soba, for instance decoration 52.2 or perhaps 144.2,75 although specific dating to the Christian period cannot be made on the basis of such wide-spread basic motifs, having considerable variety in the way in which they are executed. Site 50.4 yielded sherds, including body sherds, of thick-walled jars and sherds representing two or three forms of outflaring rim. One type (Fig. 34) has some similarities to those of the ‘braziers’, found on the Begrawiya-Atbara Survey, considered characteristic of the later Medieval period. Unfortunately, no portion of a base was recovered from the sherds evident on the surface. Hence, it was not possible to confirm the identification of such sherds as ‘braziers’ from the characteristic thick solid foot with ‘finger-holes’ at intervals seen, for example, on specimens from Begrawiya-Atbara survey near Khor Shangarite.76 The presence of braziers would indicate a date for the site of 13th–16th c., partly on the basis of parallels with Lower Nubia but a later date cannot be excluded.

4.7 Conclusion: Summary of Dating of Sites A summary of the presence or absence of ceramics currently assigned to the various chronological periods is given in Table 2. From this, it can be seen that sites can be dated, according to the surface artefactual evidence, to five main periods, viz. the prehistoric (Palaeolithic, Khartoum Mesolithic and possibly Neolithic), Napatan, Meroitic, Christian and earlier Islamic. This tends to confirm that the route surveyed across the Bayuda from the junction of the Blue and the White Nile to near the southern end of the present-day Dongola Reach has been of significance in movement north and south through Upper Nubia over a long period. Probable habitation sites are currently dated to a range of periods; for instance, site 115.1 to the Mesolithic, or site 54.3 to the Christian period, whilst the numerous burial sites, in several cases containing a substantial number of tumuli, are associated with material of the protohistoric and historic periods. It is the linking of the evidence from the 1997 survey, confined essentially to the line of the Shiryan al Shamal, with that from the other surveys and excavations now under way in the Bayuda interior, and with the information from on-going excavations of the sites bordering the desert, with links into this interior, which will give a fuller picture of how the Bayuda was used in the past.

75 76

Welsby 1998: Figs. 59 & 66. Mallinson et al. 1996: 88; Smith 1996: 166, Fig. 4.

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5. Future Studies Rescue of important sites of all periods is still possible, while relative isolation from large settlements means that many early period sites are undisturbed, except by random road working which uncovers them. The new road provides good access for archaeology while also centralising modern populations at transport hubs, provides access to support research teams and provide back up. Practical archaeology is possible for local teams to access over longer periods. Sudan archaeologists supported by experts could make considerable inroads into the history of the region which smaller and shorter missions could not match. Although the Gdansk survey covers the wadis along the Nile in the Bayuda it does not as yet extend out to the middle of the Bayuda or as far south as Khartoum. Research into the wells and ground water isotopes could establish if the Nile still flows underground and also trace these ancient watercourses to help find areas of early settlement. Studies of Khor Abu Anga material, and of Wadi Muqaddam’s links to the Nile could identify late hominid settlement patterns along this ancient route and may provide a key to early man’s route out of Africa. A study in 2015 has considered the upper reaches of the Wadi Muqaddam but does not look into its Palaeo-Nile credentials.77 Phytolith studies could be developed with boreholes to see how the landscape has changed over the last 100 millennia, providing supporting evidence of how populations inhabited this region.

Acknowledgements The project is grateful to the staff of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, Sudan (NCAM), for all the assistance during the preparation and carrying out of the survey, in particular to Abdelrahman Ali Mohammed, current Director General of NCAM (our inspector on the survey), and to Hassan Hussein Idris, retired Director General of NCAM, and to Salah Mohammed Ahmed, retired Director of Fieldwork. Funding for the Survey is gratefully acknowledged from the Sudan Archaeological Research Society and the Haycock Memorial Fund of the British Institute in Eastern Africa. The project received much assistance from D. Sloan and staff of the British Council in Khartoum. Small finds illustrated in this chapter were drawn in the field and inked by A. England. The pottery forms and decorations were drawn in the field by the Laurence Smith, and were inked by J. Doole. Thanks are due to the following for advice and help in the study of both the pottery and the small finds: Janine D. Bourriau, Charles Bonnet, Judith Bunbury, David N. Edwards, James Harrell, Friederike Jesse, Brigitte Keding, Jacke Phillips, Krzystzof Pluskota, Pamela J. Rose, Donatella Usai, Derek A. Welsby, M. White, Isabella Welsby-Sjöström and Bogdan Zurawski.

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Bibliography Adams, W. Y. 1977 Nubia. Corridor to Africa. Princeton. 1986 Ceramic Industries of Medieval Nubia. Memoirs of the UNESCO Archaeological Survey of Sudanese Nubia 1. Lexington. Allason-Jones, L. 1991a Small Objects from the Trial Trenches. In: Welsby, D. A. & Daniels, C. M., Soba. Archaeological Research at a Medieval Capital on the Blue Nile. Memoirs of the British Institute in Eastern Africa 12. London, 163–165. 1991b Small Objects from the Western End of Mound B. In: Welsby, D. A. & Daniels, C. M., Soba. Archaeological Research at a Medieval Capital on the Blue Nile. Memoirs of the British Institute in Eastern Africa 12. London, 126–162. 1998 The Small Objects. In: Welsby, D. A., Soba II. Renewed Excavations within the Metropolis of the Kingdom of Alwa in Central Sudan. Memoirs of the British Institute in Eastern Africa 15. London, 60–81. Arkell, A. J. 1949a Early Khartoum. Oxford. 1949b The Old Stone Age in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Khartoum. 1953 Shaheinab. Oxford. Butzer, K. W. & Hansen, C. L. 1968 Desert and River in Nubia. Geomorphology and Prehistoric Environments at the Aswan Reservoir. Madison. Beyin, A. 2011 Upper Pleistocene Human Dispersals out of Africa: A Review of the Current Debate. In: International Journal of Evolutionary Biology 2011, 1–17. Caneva, I. 1988 The Cultural Equipment of the Early Neolithic Occupants of Geili. In: Caneva, I. (ed.), El Geili: The History of a Middle Nile environment, 7000 B.C. – A.D. 1500. Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology 29. BAR International Series 424. Oxford, 65–147. Caneva, I. & Marks, A. E. 1990 More on the Shaqadud Pottery: Evidence for Saharo-Nilotic Connections during the 6th–4th Millennium B.C. In: Archéologie du Nil Moyen 4, 11–36. Charney, J. G. 1975 Dynamics of Desert and Drought in Sahel. In: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 101, 193–202.

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Chmielewski, W. 1968 Early and Middle Palaeolithic sites near Arkin, Sudan. In: Wendorf, F. (ed.) The Prehistory of Nubia. Vol. 1. Dallas, 110–147. Clark, J. D. & Stemler, A. 1975 Early Domestic Sorghum from Central Sudan, In: Nature 255, 472–474. Camberlin, P. 2009 Nile Basin Climates. In: Dumont, H. J. (ed.), The Nile. Origin, Environments, Limnology and Human Use. Monographiae Biologicae 89. Ghent, 307–333. Dumont, H. J. (ed.) 2009 The Nile. Origin, Environments, Limnology and Human Use. Monographiae Biologicae 89. Ghent. Dumont, H. J. & El Moghraby, A. I. 1993 Holocene Evolution of Climate and Environment, and Stone “City” Ruins in Northern Darfur Sudan: Is there a Relationship? In: Kryzaniak, L., Kobusiewicz, M. & Alexander, J. (eds.), Environmental Change and Human Culture in the Nile Basin and Northern Africa until the Second Millennium BC. Studies in African Archaeology 4. Poznan, 381–397. Dunham, D. 1963 The West and South Cemeteries at Meroë. The Royal Cemeteries of Kush V. Boston. Edwards, D. N. 2004 The Nubian Past: An Archaeology of the Sudan. London. El-Tayeb, M. 1998 Burial Customs in the Early Makurian Period: An Uncommon Type of Mound Grave. In: Kendall, T. & Der Manuelian, P. (eds.), Abstracts of Papers: International Society for Nubian Studies Ninth International Conference, August 21–26, 1998. Boston, 93–94. Firth, C. M. 1912 The Archaeological Survey of Nubia. Report for 1908–1909. Cairo. Hayes, R. O. 1973 The Distribution of Meroitic Archer’s Rings: An Outline of Political Borders. In: Hintze, F. (ed.), Sudan im Altertum. 1. Internationale Tagung für meroitistische Forschungen in Berlin 1971, Meroitica 1, Berlin, 113–122. Hosfield, R., White, K. & Drake, N. 2015 Middle Stone Age and Early Holocene Archaeology in Central Sudan: The Wadi Muqaddam Geoarchaeological Survey. In: Sudan & Nubia 19, 16–29.

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Jesse, F. 2010 Early Pottery in Northern Africa: An Overview. In: Journal of African Archaeology 8.2, 219–238. Kaeslin, E., Redmond, I. & Dudley, N. (eds.) 2012 Wildlife in a Changing Climate. FAO Forestry Paper 167. Rome. http://www.fao.org/docrep/015/ i2498e/i2498e.pdf (accessed 2017-03-29). Krzyzaniak, L. 1984 The Neolithic Habitation at Kadero (Central Sudan). In: Krzyzaniak, L. & Kobusiewicz, M. (eds.), Origin and Early Development of Food-Producing Cultures in North-Eastern Africa. Studies in African Archaeology 1. Poznan, 309–315. Kuper, R. & Kröpelin, S. 2006 Climate-Controlled Holocene Occupation in the Sahara: Motor ofAfrica’s Evolution. In: Science 313: 803–807. Lecointe, Y. 1987 Le site néolithique d’el Ghaba: deux anneés d’activité (1985–1986). In: Archéologie du Nil Moyen 2, 69–88. Macaulay, V., Hill, C., Achilli, A., Rengo, C., Clarke, D., Meehan, W., Blackburn, J., Semino, O., Scozzari, R., Cruciani, F., Taha, A., Shaari, N. K., Raja, J. M., Ismail, P., Zainuddin, Z., Goodwin, W., Bulbeck, D., Bandelt, H.-J., Oppenheimer, S., Torroni, A. & Richards, M. 2005 Single, Rapid Coastal Settlement of Asia Revealed by Analysis of Complete Mitochondrial Genomes. In: Science 308 (5724): 1034–36. Mallinson, M. D. S., Smith, L. M. V., Ikram, S., Le Quesne, C. & Sheehan, P. 1996 Road Archaeology in the Middle Nile. Vol. I. The SARS Survey from Bagrawiya-Meroe to Atbara 1993. Sudan Archaeological Research Society Publication 1. London. Mallinson, M., Smith, L. & Fuller, D. Q. 1998 SARS Survey from Omdurman to Gabolab 1997. In: Sudan & Nubia 2, 42–60. Marks, A. E. 1970 Preceramic Sites. The Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia 2. Stockholm. Marks, A. E. & Mohammed-Ali, A. 1991 The Place of Shaqadud in the Late Prehistory of the Central Nile Valley. In: Marks, A. E. & Mohammed-Ali, A. (eds.), The Late Prehistory of the Eastern Sahel: The Mesolithic and Neolithic of Shaqadud, Sudan. Dallas, 237–259. Mohammed-Ali, A. 1991 The Mesolithic and Neolithic Ceramics from Shaqadud Midden. In: Marks, A. E. & Mohammed-Ali, A. (eds.), The Late Prehistory of the Eastern Sahel: The Mesolithic and Neolithic of Shaqadud, Sudan. Dallas, 65–93.

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Nelson, K. 2002 Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara. Vol. 2: The Pottery of Nabta Playa. New York. Osborn, D. & Osbornová, J. 1998 The Mammals of Ancient Egypt. The Natural History of Egypt 4. Warminster. Petrie, W. M. F. 1917 Egypt and Mesopotamia. In: Ancient Egypt 1917.1, 26–36. 1953 Ceremonial Slate Palettes. British School of Egyptian Archaeology 66 (A). London. Pluskota, K. 1990 Early Christian Pottery from Old Dongola. In: Godlewski, W. (ed.), Coptic Studies: Acts of the 3rd International Congress of Coptic Studies, Warsaw, 20–25 August 1984. Warsaw, 315–334. 1991 Dongola. A Pottery Production Centre from the Early Christian Period. In: Godlewski, W. (ed.), Coptic and Nubian Pottery. Part II. National Museum in Warsaw Occasional Paper 2, 34–56. Quibell, J. E. 1898 Slate Palette from Hieraconpolis. In: Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 36, 81–84. Quibell, J. E. & Green, F. W. 1902 Hierakonpolis. Part II. Egyptian Research Account 5. London. Roe, D. A. 1994 A Metrical Analysis of Selected Sets of Handaxes and Cleavers from Olduvai Gorge. In: Leakey, M. D. & Roe, D. A. (eds.), Olduvai Gorge 5. Excavations in Beds III, IV and the Masek Beds, 1968–1971. Cambridge, 146–234. Säve-Söderbergh, T., Englund, G. & Nordström, H.-Å. (eds.) 1981 Late Nubian Cemeteries. The Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia 6. Solna. Said, R. 1993 The River Nile. Geology, Hydrology, and Utilization. Oxford. Sandford, K. S. & Arkell, W. J. 1929 Palaeolithic Man and The Nile-Faiyum Divide. A Study of the Region during Pliocene and Pleistocene Times. Prehistoric Survey of Egypt and Western Asia 1. Oriental Institute of Chicago Publications 10. Chicago. 1933 Palaeolithic Man and The Nile Valley in Nubia and Upper Egypt. A Study of the Region during Pliocene and Pleistocene Times. Prehistoric Survey of Egypt and Western Asia 2. Oriental Institute of Chicago Publications 17. Chicago. 1935 Palaeolithic Man and The Nile Valley in Upper and Middle Egypt. A Study of the Region during Pliocene and Pleistocene Times. Prehistoric Survey of Egypt and Western Asia 3. Oriental Institute of Chicago Publications 18. Chicago.

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Shinnie, P. L. 1995 Ancient Nubia. London. Shinnie, P. L. & Chittick, H. N. 1961 Ghazali: A Monastery in the Northern Sudan. Sudan Antiquities Service Occasional Papers 5. Khartoum. Smith, L. M. V. 1996 Report on the Pottery Collection. In: Mallinson, M. D. S., Smith, L. M. V., Ikram, S., Le Quesne, C. & Sheehan, P. (eds.), Road Archaeology in the Middle Nile. Vol. I. The SARS Survey from Bagrawiya-Meroe to Atbara 1993. Sudan Archaeological Research Society Publication 1. London, 165–207. Smith, L. M. V. 2003 The SARS Survey along the Omdurman-Gabolab Road 1997: Interim Report on the Pottery and Small Finds. In: Kush 18, 131–156. Sutcliffe, J. V. 2009 Hydrology of the Nile. In: Dumont, H. J. (ed.), The Nile. Origin, Environments, Limnology and Human Use. Monographiae Biologicae 89. Ghent, 335–364.

Vrbka, P., Bussert R. & Abdalla O. A. E. 2008 Groundwater in North and Central Sudan. In: Adelana, S. & MacDonald, A. (eds.), Applied Groundwater Studies in Africa: International Association of Hydrologists Selected Papers 13. Leiden, 337–351. Welsby, D. A. 1991 Pottery from the Western End of Mound B. In: Welsby, D. A. & Daniels, C. M. (eds.), Soba. Archaeological Research at a Medieval Capital on the Blue Nile. Memoirs of the British Institute in Eastern Africa 12. London, 165–245. 1998 The Pottery. In: Welsby, D. A., Soba II. Renewed Excavations within the Metropolis of the Kingdom of Alwa in Central Sudan. Memoirs of the British Institute in Eastern Africa 15. London, 87–174. Welsby, D. A., Macklin, M. G. & Woodward, J. C. 2002 Human Responses to Holocene Environmental Changes in the Northern Dongola Reach of the Nile, Sudan. In: Friedman, R. (ed.), Egypt and Nubia. Gifts of the Desert, 28–38.

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Wendorf, F. 1968 The Prehistory of Nubia. Dallas. 1998 Nabta Playa and its Role in North Eastern African Prehistory. In: Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 17, 97–123, Wendorf, F. & Schild, R., 1976 Prehistory of the Nile Valley. Studies in Archaeology. New York. 2001 Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara. Vol. 1: The Archaeology of Nabta Playa. New York. 2002 Forty Years of the Combined Prehistoric Expedition. In: Archaeologia Polona 40, 5–22. Wendorf, F., Schild, R. & Close, A. E. 1993 Egypt During the Last Interglacial. The Middle Palaeolithic of Bir Tarwafi and Bir Saharah East. New York. Whiteman, A. J. 1973 The Geology of the Sudan Republic. London. Williams, M. A. J., Medani, A. H., Talent, J. A. & Mawson, R. 1974 A Note on Upper Quaternary Sub-Fossil Mollusca West of Jebel Aulia. In: Sudan Notes and Records 54, 168–172 (1974). Williams, M. A. J. & Faure, H. 1980 Late Quaternary Depositional History of the Blue and White Nile Rivers in Central Sudan. In: Williams, M. A. J. & Faure, H. (eds.), The Sahara and the Nile, Quaternary Environments and Prehistoric Occupation in Northern Africa. Rotterdam, 281–304. Williams, M. J. & Talbot, M. R. 2009 Late Quaternary Environments in the Nile Basin. In: Dumont, H. J. (ed.), The Nile. Origin, Environments, Limnology and Human Use. Monographiae Biologicae 89. Ghent, 61–72. Woodward, J. C., Macklin, M. G. & Welsby, D. A. 2001 The Holocene Fluvial Sedementary Record and Alluvial Geoarchaeology in the Nile Valley of Northern Sudan. In: Maddy, D. R, Macklin, M. G. & Woodward, J. C. (eds.), River Basin Sediment Systems. Archives of Environmental Change. Rotterdam, 327–355. Yallouze, M. & Knetsch, G. 1954 Linear structures in and around the Nile basin. In: Bulletin de la Société de Géographie dʼEgypte 27, 153–207.

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Archaeological Explorations in the Bayuda Desert: Al-Meragh and the Wadi Muqaddam Between Tamtam and Korti (1999–2000) Timothy Kendall Dedicated to my esteemed friends and colleagues of many years, Steffen Wenig and Pawel Wolf.

Abstract This paper describes the results of a brief survey of the northern Wadi Muqaddam undertaken by myself with a small team from NCAM during 1999 and 2000. The survey was prompted by our chance discovery there, in December 1996, of an important, previously unknown Kushite townsite, consisting of several large residential mud-brick structures incorporating fine stone doorways and columns. The town appears to have flourished only briefly before being destroyed by fire, probably by enemy action, in a single episode, apparently in the later 5th or early 4th c. BC (judging from radiocarbon dates). This site, called Al-Meragh, is 63 km north of Tamtam and 66 km south of the Nile at Korti. It lies – unexpectedly – 150 km west of the ancient road linking Napata and Meroë. For 47 days, in three short visits, between December 1999 and November 2000, our team conducted excavations at Al-Meragh and briefly explored the 129 km length of the wadi basin between Tamtam and Korti. Our aim was to discover, within the limitations of time and budget, as much about this little known area as possible: its landmarks, its place names, its seasonal and environmental conditions, its history, its antiquities, and its present residents and their life-ways. The original version of this paper was printed only in photocopy and privately distributed in 2001, but with a very limited circulation.1 I am thus extremely grateful to Angelika Lohwasser for inviting me to present this work again at the conference, and for offering to publish the original paper formally, now with some revisions, in the conference proceedings. Despite the passage of sixteen years, the data presented here, I believe, will still seem fresh to colleagues, since the results of this project were never publicly presented, and since so little new work has been carried out in this area since our project ended. This particular region of the Bayuda holds much promise for future archaeological research, since, for the foreseeable future, it is likely to remain undisturbed by further motor traffic, agricultural schemes, or population pressure. Keywords: Bayuda, Wadi Muqaddam, Al-Meragh, Usli, El–Hosh, Well, Fort, Meded 1

The paper was published in two photocopy ʻeditionsʼ, Kendall 2000 and Kendall 2001. I had hoped to continue this initial reconnaissance into the southern Wadi Muqaddam, but limitations of funding and the responsibilities to the work at Jebel Barkal necessarily curtailed these ambitions. The only formally published report on this work was Kendall 2006–2007.

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Introduction: Discovery of Al-Meragh, December 1996 On December 31, 1996, while driving through the Bayuda about 270 km north of Omdurman, I and several colleagues from the Jebel Barkal Mission of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, found our car suddenly passing between several low mounds strewn with finely-cut sandstone column elements (Fig. 1). When we stopped to investigate, we noticed here and there other concentrations of such stones, and within minutes we had counted what appeared to be the remains of at least nine important buildings within an area of about 200 m2. The site was impressive and completely unknown. It appeared to be that of a Kushite town – either Napatan or Meroitic – with several major structures at its center and cemeteries of low tumulus graves on either side.

Fig. 1:

View of Al-Meragh, looking east, as it appeared at the time of discovery, December 31, 1996. The ruins in the foreground are those of AM 200. The car is parked at the south end of AM 600. Jebel el-Meragh appears in the background about 2.5 km distant

The site surprised us, since nothing like it had yet been reported from the Bayuda, which, from an archaeological point of view, was then still terra incognita. As we later established, the site lay 66 km south of Korti, or, as the local nomads said: “two to three days from the Nile by camel.” Strangely, it did not lie on the route connecting Napata and Meroë, where one would have expected to find monumental buildings. It lay 150 km to the west, on the Wadi Muqaddam, the natural north-south depression that has always been the preferred route through the Bayuda for overland travellers passing between the confluence of the Blue and White Niles and the Dongola Reach. This, no doubt, explains the meaning of its Arabic name: “Foremost Wadi” (Fig. 2: Map). Since the Wadi Muqaddam still occasionally runs with water after the rains of late summer, it has always been one of the best-watered of the N-S routes across the desert. Although any standing water disappears by November, water remains accessible throughout the year in the line of deep wells that can be found all along its length of approximately 330 km. None of these wells are farther apart than a single day’s journey by camel, and some of them are only hours apart. On foot, the wadi is said by the local people to take from ten to twelve days to cross (Omdurman to Korti). © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Map of the Bayuda desert, showing the Wadi Muqaddam (dotted line, left), the trans-Bayuda highway between Omdurman and ed-Debba (solid line), and the area explored by the NCAM Bayuda Survey, November 2000 (shaded area) (See Fig. 24 for a detailed satellite map of the survey area, with prominent sites indicated); Base map: Török 1997: Pl. I.

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During the mid-1990s, a new paved highway was built through the Bayuda to make the crossing easier and faster for motor traffic. This road parallels the east side of the Wadi Muqaddam only as far as Tamtam, the rest stop built in the central Bayuda, 227 km north of Omdurman. From here the paved road veers to the northwest and continues on to Ed-Debba, via Ganetti, while the old dirt track of the Wadi Muqaddam, virtually abandoned after the completion of the new road, continues on from Tamtam in a northerly direction, and, after 129 km, intersects the Nile at Korti. As we later calculated, our newly found site lay about halfway between Tamtam and Korti. The nomads living around the ruins informed us that the site was called Al-Meragh, or “The Camel Dust Bath.” The site lies in a sandy plain about 2.5 km west of the main motor track and a well also called Al-Meragh. (Had we not been so far off the track, we would not have found the site.) The nearby mountain is called Jebel el-Meragh, and it is from this major landmark that the site gets its name, for when viewed from the site it vaguely resembles a camel sprawled on the ground, rolling in the dust, taking a meragh (Fig. 1). The presence of important Kushite buildings here, incorporating well-made stone architectural elements, confirmed not only that the Wadi Muqaddam had been an important highway in antiquity but also that it had been controlled, at least for a time, by the Meroitic state.

Formation of the NCAM Bayuda Expedition and Preliminary Excavations at Al-Meragh, December, 1999 and March, 2000 In the fall of 1999, with the enthusiastic support and collaboration of Hassan Hussein Idriss, Director General of the National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums of the Sudan (NCAM), I organized a modest archaeological reconnaissance of Al-Meragh. Funds were granted by the Michaela Schiff Giorgini Foundation of Lausanne, Switzerland, through the generosity of Mr. Alan M. May, who was driving with us on the day we found the site. The initial team consisted of myself and an all-Sudanese crew from NCAM, consisting of Inspector El-Hassan Ahmed Mohamed, Surveyor Yasin Mohamed Said, and Hamad Ibrahim and Sadik Sharif, the drivers of our two cars, with three other excavators: Sabri Hashim, Mohamed Ibrahim, and Moussa Abdullah.2 We initially probed the site for eleven days, between December 18–29, 1999. We then went out again on two other occasions in March, a total of eighteen days: March 2–14 and 20–26, 2000. We camped in tents, had limited water and supplies, and were frustrated by almost constant high winds and blowing sand that made excavations extremely difficult, and on several days impossible. Nevertheless we were able to study the site and the surrounding area for an extended period. During these weeks we were able to lay out a survey grid, map the main features of the site (Fig. 3), map the stone elements of select buildings as they appeared on the ground prior to excavation (Fig. 4), and partially excavate one of the large buildings and one of the tumuli.

2

The men were initially reluctant to go because my only available time to do a fall season in the Bayuda (prior to going to Jebel Barkal) fell during Ramadan, which that year ran from November 27 to December 28, 1999. Despite the fast, however, the men worked extremely well.

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The Architecture The site at first inspection appeared to consist of four major and five lesser buildings in close proximity, all laid out with walls directed toward the cardinal directions. These structures, we found, were all built of mud brick, now severely eroded, which had incorporated finely cut sandstone columns and doorways with stepped-niches, rounded mouldings, and cavetto cornices. In four of the buildings the columns were massive and had been topped with bellshaped capitals, made in two halves, fastened together by dovetail clamps. To these nine structures we assigned the numbers AM (Al-Meragh) 100–900 (Fig. 3). It was only because of their stone elements that these buildings remained visible at all. By the following November (2000), when we went out again with an expanded crew, it became clear that these nine structures had been surrounded by many others built only of mud brick, which had eroded to ground level and remained invisible prior to excavation.

Fig. 3:

Contour map of the central area of Al-Meragh in 20 m squares, with visible buildings, cemeteries, and tumulus graves identified by their assigned numbers. Dotted outlines of structures indicate their presumed shapes (map by Yasin Mohamed Said).

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Fig. 4:

Timothy Kendall

Plan of AM 200, as drawn, December 1999, showing the distribution of fallen stone columns and doorway elements. From the doorjambs still in situ it was possible to plot (in dotted line) the approximate lines of the walls and to recognize the areas of rooms where the columns had stood. The building proved to be identical in size and plan to B 600 (with the exception of the added stone doorways at the north and south ends of the building; compare with Fig. 19). The shaded areas indicate high concentrations of pebbles which are evidently the remains of collapsed and dissolved mud brick walls (map by the author). © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Partial Excavation of Building AM 700 During our first weeks of excavation, we commenced clearing AM 700, which was the largest visible structure on the north end of the complex. Due to time constraints, we were able to expose only part of its southern side, which proved to be 18.25 m wide (Fig. 5). The building seemed to be residential rather than religious in character, for it had no obvious axis. We were able to expose two interior rooms (702 and 703), which were insulated from the south side by a walled corridor (701). Room 703 was spacious and had four columns. The fallen remains of two of these we exposed entire and thus could reconstruct their form (Fig. 6). The columns were well made but were strangely squat and massive, having a height of only 2.63 m but with a capital diameter of 1.16 m (Fig. 7). None of the stone elements bore any trace of inscription or relief, but some were lightly pecked, indicating that they had once been plastered and painted. The south-facing stone doorways of 701 and 703 (Fig. 8) seem to have been deliberately planned off-axis so as to prevent people on the outside from being able to look directly into the columned room 703 through the open door of 701 – in other words, to ensure privacy for the occupants. Corridor 701 could also be entered by a formal doorway at the west end, which opened through an ornamental portico with columns 48–50 cm in diameter. Unfortunately, no capitals for these columns could be found.

Fig. 5:

Plan of the walls and columns in AM 700, exposed in March 2000, showing (at lower right) cross-section through room 703 (map by the author).

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Fig. 6:

Fallen column in AM 700, room 703. The small folding meter scale at the base of the column shows the depth of the ash layer at floor level.

Fig. 8:

Doorjamb in AM 700 leading from room 701 to room 703 (see Fig. 5).

Fig. 7:

The same column restored in CGI (rendering by Geoff Kornfeld, Learning Sites, Inc.).

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Digging inside room 703, struggling against constant high wind and blowing dust, we were able to expose two columns with bases. Here we found the floor covered with a layer of ash and charcoal 20–25 cm deep (Fig. 6). It thus became at once evident that AM 700 had been destroyed by fire. Its wooden ceiling, once burned, had obviously collapsed into the interior of the room, bringing down on top of it the mud layer of the roof. (Subsequent C14 analysis yielded a date in the early eighth c. BC, which one would suppose to be the age of the wooden roof beams themselves rather than the date of the destruction; see below). Once destroyed, AM 700 was abandoned and never restored. Eventually its standing mud walls, weakened by annual rains, collapsed inward and outward, and formed a layer of mud around the stone elements. This mud mass, annually softened by rainwater, fused and hardened over the centuries and finally formed a solid low mound about 1.5 m high. The standing columns eventually collapsed (or were pushed over) on top of the mud mound, where their separated elements have remained ever since. Like the exposed sandstone elements elsewhere on the site, they are slowly being eaten away by the almost incessant high wind and blowing sand.

The Cemeteries On either side of the visible Kushite buildings there are several large, low tumulus graves: a single tumulus on the west side of the complex, and seven on the east (Fig. 3). These cemeteries we designated AM W(est) and AM E(ast), respectively. The single grave on the west is 7.5 m in diameter. Those on the east range from 2.5 to 15 m in diameter. All were covered by hundreds of large flat slabs of black ferricrete (Fig. 9). A third cemetery of similar graves lay about 300 m to the east.

Fig. 9:

Cemetery AM E in March 2000, looking S from Tum. 5 toward Tum. 2, with Tum. 3 at right and Tum. 4 at left.

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Excavation of Tumulus Grave AM E 7 In March 2000, we were tempted to investigate one of the tumuli in AM E in order to try to determine its chronological relationship to the adjacent Kushite buildings. I selected for study Tum. 7, the smallest visible mound in AM E, which was 2.5 m diameter and rose 14 cm above present ground level (and, as we discovered, 40 cm above its original ground level). By sweeping the mound of loose sand, we found its surface to be made of hardened, melted mud. The 380 ferricrete slabs we found layering its surface (out of an estimated 500) appeared to have been set in the mud, when wet, to give it a hard, scale-like surface, resistant to erosion. As we began to dig into the matrix of the tumulus, excavating conditions deteriorated due to high winds and blowing sand, and we were forced to use the car and several mattresses as a wind-break (Fig. 10).

Fig. 10:

Excavating Tum. 7 in high winds and blowing dust, March 2000.

When we cleared the ground around the tumulus, we discovered on its east side traces of a small, nearly square mud brick building, 2.8 x 3.3 m, with a door 80 cm wide in the center of its east side. I initially suspected that this was a chapel associated with the grave, but this assumption would prove incorrect when we returned the following November. (At that time we would find that it was merely one of many mud-brick buildings from the Kushite townsite, over whose walls the tumuli were built, long after the town had been abandoned (see Fig. 14). From the earth mound we recovered many potsherds mixed with pieces of broken bones, cattle teeth, stray beads, fragments of ostrich shell and pieces of a grindstone. About 7 cm below the top of the mound, we came upon a carefully laid oval ring of rough stones, which seemed to indicate the shape of the underlying grave and revealed that the burial was likely undisturbed (Fig. 11). Embedded at three locations around the mud sides of the tumulus, under the black sheathing stones, we found three upright pots, two of which were filled with ash and burned bones (Fig. 12). © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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These vessels, ranging from 15 to 35 cm in diameter, seemed to be the remains of a final ceremony connected with the burial.Alens of ash and coals on the north side of the tumulus revealed that the ceremony had included an open fire, the remains of which were also covered over by the surface stones. The pots were of a wheelmade, pink- or cream-slipped ware with blackish or greyish cores (with white inclusions). Sherds from the tomb matrix came from both fine and delicate wares as well as from large, thick-walled vessels. Some bowl fragments preserved handles and others belonged to the genre of ʻcooking potsʼ with finger-impressed bottoms.

Fig. 11: Tum. 7, partially excavated (looking S), revealing the stone ring in the center of the mound, March 2000.

Fig. 12: One of three upright pots found in Tum. 7, set in the earth matrix around the ring of stones. Two of the vessels contained ashes and bones.

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Digging beneath the ring of stones, we found no pottery, but came upon the tops of two large upright stone slabs, which had apparently marked the ends of the burial pit prior to and during the construction of the tumulus. Digging another 85 cm further down to the bases of these stone markers and levelling around the surrounding area, we broke through, in three places, a cavity that seemed to be just beneath the surface on the west side of the uprights. This hollow space indicated that a grave chamber lay immediately below. Unfortunately, just as we made this discovery we faced a day of very violent weather – high winds and blowing dust and sand, which made further excavation impossible. This was followed immediately by the Eid, during which we had to suspend excavations in order to get the men home for the holidays. Before leaving we were thus forced to seal and refill our pit and leave further excavation of the grave to the future. Unfortunately, we were never able to resume the work on Tum. 7 and thus we were never able to examine the burial.

Continued Excavations at Al-Meragh, November 9–27, 2000 In November 2000, we found another opportunity to return to Al-Meragh, this time with an expanded team. We were joined by Pawel Wolf, then chief archaeologist of the Musawwarat es-Sufra expedition of Humboldt University, Berlin, and by field assistants Alexander Kendall (Tufts University), Diana Nickel (Basel University), and Mey Saied (Imperial College, London and University of Khartoum). Our NCAM team included Inspector Habab Idriss Ahmed, Surveyor Yasin Mohamed Said, and three workmen: Zaruk Bakri Mohamed, Said Abdul Adel, and Sheikh Wad Ziada (who doubled as cook). Thanks to Steffen Wenig, Director of the Humboldt University Musawwarat Mission, we were able to borrow many essential excavating tools and supplies from his storeroom as well as his Mercedes utility vehicle and Iveco truck – and driver Adam al-Fadl el-Mena. The truck, with its large carrying capacity, mobile machine shop, fuel tank for both vehicles, and its 4000 litre water tank made our lives infinitely easier than on our previous visits. We also had a larger camp, consisting this time of three tents (Fig. 13), one of which slept half the men and incorporated a kitchen; the second slept the other half of the men and housed a drafting table; and the third quartered our three women. This period we were able to work eighteen full days with continuous perfect weather. Funding was continued by the Michaela Schiff Giorgini Foundation, through generous contributions by Alan M. May.

Fig. 13: Al-Meragh camp, November 2000.

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Because the previous March we thought we had found a small offering chapel associated with AM E Tum. 7, I planned to continue clearing the ground around two of the other tumuli to try recover evidence for similar structures. Second, I wanted to clear one of the large buildings completely and to record its plan. I decided not to continue excavating the grave of Tum. 7 because we did not have with us a physical anthropologist. I also felt that our energies and limited time would be best spent focusing on the larger issues: understanding the site layout and explaining the form and function of the large buildings. We began November’s excavations by sweeping the ground around AM E Tum. 5 and 6 and by sinking a pair of trenches along their sides (Fig. 14). Instead of finding the expected ‘chapels’, however, we found traces of other, larger mud brick buildings that obviously had no relationship with the graves. Their walls passed directly under the tumuli. Since the orientation of the walls of these structures was identical to that of the larger buildings nearby, it was immediately evident that these had all been part of the Kushite settlement and that the tumuli, built over their ruins, were much later in date. How much later was not clear.

Fig. 14: AM E Tum. 6, swept clear of sand, looking SW toward Jebel Jumal and the camp, with ‘Trench 6’, cutting through one side of Tum. 6 and Tum. 5, revealing mud brick walls of underlying Kushite private houses. Visible in background are the remains of AM 600, at left, of AM 400, center, and of AM 200 at right, November 2000.

Since the abundant broken pottery we found in the matrix of Tum. 7 seemed to be of the same type as that found at floor level in AM 700, I had initially suspected that the graves and the Kushite buildings might be contemporary. But as we came to realize during our November outing, their ‘contemporary’ appearance was probably only an illusion due to the fact that the tumuli were built largely of earth and debris dug from the buildings directly below them. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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The mud brick buildings under the tumuli all appeared to be residential. One structure, partially excavated, contained a sandstone column base on its floor. Another, partly exposed, had its floor and one wall plastered, as if it might have been a hamam, and it included an element of a stone drain (Fig. 15). One stray find appeared to be a ceramic toilet seat. All our observations suggested that the Kushite settlement had probably not existed longer than one or two generations. Everywhere we dug there seemed to be evidence of a general burning, corresponding to the burned level we had already observed in AM 700, about 100 m to the northwest. Wherever we found a floor level, it seemed to be covered with a layer of ash. After this fire, the town seems never to have been rebuilt. Although the radiocarbon dates we obtained are spread between the 9th and 4th c. BC, I would speculate that the town’s heyday was probably during the 5th c. BC, with destruction either in the later 5th or early 4th c. BC.

Fig. 15: AM E Tum. 6 with ʻTrench 6ʼ exposing Kushite house remains.

We collected a large selection of pottery, but in our available time, were able to draw only a few sherds, so we stored our samples in a container at NCAM along with our tents and all our equipment. Before we could retrieve it, the container caught fire, which destroyed both our equipment and our samples.

AM 600: A Kushite Double House Because of the extensive settlement remains we were finding in our trenches beside the AM E tumuli, it seemed logical to select AM 600 as the next large structure to explore, since it lay immediately adjacent to this cemetery. During our mapping of the remains of the visible buildings the previous December, I had come to learn, based solely on the distribution of © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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stone fragments, that AM 600 and AM 200 shared the same plan (cf.Figs. 4 and 20). The only obvious difference between them seemed to be that AM 200 had formal stone doorways on its north, south, and east walls, while AM 600 had them only on its east wall. It also appeared that each building was symmetrical in its halves. I could thus be reasonably sure that if we could recover at least half of the plan of AM 600 this season, this would allow us not only to restore its full plan with reasonable certainty but also that of AM 200. We started clearing the sand from the north end of AM 600 on November 17 and soon exposed a hard low mound of melted mud-brick, much like that of AM 700 (Fig. 16). Localized excavation around the shaft of one column over the next few days revealed that the ancient floor level lay 1.12 m deep and that the columns, within this very hard layer, remained standing to a height of two or three drums (Figs. 17, 20, 23). The upper parts of the columns had toppled over and were scattered nearby, partly buried in the mud surface, their exposed elements badly worn by wind erosion. The capitals had been made in two halves, held together by dovetail joints (Fig. 18). By sweeping the surface of the mud mound, we were easily able to detect the lines of the original walls of the rooms and their doorways, and after clearing about 2/3 of the surface of AM 600 and tracing its walls, we were able to reconstruct its entire ground plan (Fig. 19).

Fig. 16: AM 600 in the early stages of clearing, showing the hard mud brick matrix of the mound under the surface layer of soft sand.

AM 600 proved to be a large mud brick ‘duplex’ consisting of two symmetrical luxury houses built within a single enclosure wall 18.25 m, east to west, by 26.3 m, north to south (or approximately 35 by 50 Egyptian royal cubits). This width measurement proved also to be identical to that of the exposed south end of AM 700, suggesting that that house, too, had had virtually the same plan as one of these single units (Fig. 5). © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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The outer wall of AM 600, 1.09 m thick, had been entirely coated on the exterior with a thick plaster, indicating that the house would have appeared white on the outside. A wall 70 cm thick divided the structure in half, creating on each side a separate house of eight rooms. We numbered the rooms of the north house 601–608 and the corresponding rooms of the south house 611–618. Each of the house units had on its east side a front door. The front doors of the respective units were 4 m apart, and each was framed by stone jambs and a lintel with cornice. Each opened onto an apparently roofless corridor 3 m wide and nearly 10 m long (601/611), which gave access to the various rooms of the house. The main room of each residence was an airy ʻloggiaʼ or living room, 7.60 by 8.58 m in area (602/612), which was also entered through a formal stone doorway. Its walls, like the exterior of the house, were plastered white, and will probably eventually be found to have been decoratively painted. The ceilings of these rooms were supported by four stone columns with bell capitals, which were more graceful than those in AM 700 since they were one drum higher and stood 3.14 m. (We can thus probably conclude that the columned room 703 of AM 700 was identical in form to AM 602/612 and also functioned as the central living room of a private residence.) These columned rooms would have been the highest in each house and would have been lit by clerestory windows set in the walls above the level of the roofs of the surrounding rooms. Each living room of AM 600 was connected to three internal rooms: 603/613, 606/616, and 607/617. The first appears to have been a private room with a closing door, possibly a hamam with toilet facilities. The other two may have been bedrooms. The remaining three rooms of each house, it will be noted, were not connected to the living quarters at all. Room 604/614 was a long narrow enclosed space with its own door looking very much like a pantry or storage closet. Room 608/618, at the west end of the corridor, was probably a kitchen. It was walled off from the rest of the house probably to keep the living quarters free from the smoke of its cooking fires. Based on modern Sudanese parallels, we may imagine that it also had a light roof, perhaps only grass mats or palm branches laid across rafters. This would have allowed the escape of smoke but Fig. 17: Southeast column, room 602, AM 600, still would have provided shade for the standing to a height of three drums. The floor, cook. Finally, room 605/615, which we at a depth here of 1.12 m, was found covered found to be partly filled with transverse with a layer of ash, just as in AM 700 (see brickwork, appears to have encased a Figs. 6 and 23). stairway to the roof. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 18: Fallen half of a bell capital in AM 600, showing dovetail joints. .

Fig. 19: Restored plan of AM 600, with assigned room numbers.

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These houses, with their central 4-columned halls, bear striking similarity to many ancient Egyptian houses of the New Kingdom.3 At the same time, they are also remarkably similar in many respects to modern Sudanese houses. Based on comparisons with both ancient and modern parallels, AM 600 can be quite convincingly restored (Figs. 20–22). It must be emphasized, however, that these renderings are only tentative and will undoubtedly have to be modified as we learn more.

Fig. 20: Restored elevations of AM 600. Bottom: present state of ruins seen in cross-section through rooms 612, 611, 601, and 602. Middle: restored cross-section through same rooms. Top left half: restored cross-section through rooms 615 and 613. Top right half: eastern facade of house.

The rooms of these houses are buried in hard-packed dried mud to a depth of from 60 cm at the perimeter to 120 cm at the center, and this made digging inside the rooms extremely difficult. Nevertheless, were one to have more time in future, all the rooms could be cleared to floor level and some objects might be found in situ. Hopefully we would even find well-preserved remnants of painted wall decoration. In November we were able to penetrate to the floor level in only one small area around the standing shaft of the southeast column in room 602 (Fig. 23). It was this trench that allowed us to establish the depth of the floor and to restore the form of the complete column; it also allowed us to discover again evidence of the conflagration that seems to have overwhelmed the town at the end. On the floor was a layer of ash and charcoal similar to what we had found in both AM 700 as well as in all the buildings observed under the tumuli in AM E. 3

See, for example, Arnold 2001: 122–127 and references.

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Fig. 21: AM 600 restored (rendering by Geoff Kornfeld, Learning Sites, Inc.).

Fig. 22: AM 600, room 602 (rendering by Geoff Kornfeld, Learning Sites, Inc.).

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Fig. 23: Southeast column, room 602, AM 600, still standing to a height of three drums. The floor, at a depth of 112 cm was found covered with a layer of ash just as in AM 700 (see Figs. 6 and 17).

The Historical Implications of Al-Meragh Al-Meragh was clearly a large and prosperous Kushite outpost. Since all the buildings yet found have identical orientation, with walls orientated to the cardinal directions, the town appears to have been planned and laid out as a single conception and built relatively quickly. It also appears to have had only one occupation period, probably within the 5th c. BC – but this conclusion is tentative. The most important structures on the site – those presently visible on the surface – incorporated stone columns and doorways, but they were surrounded by many others, imperceptible before excavation, made only of mud brick. All the buildings so far investigated seem to have been private houses. No temples have yet been identified (although AM 400 with its apparent axial plan, may be one). Likewise, no cemeteries contemporary with the Kushite town have yet been found, but they must surely exist nearby. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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The large, stone-appointed private houses of Al-Meragh are curious because, in the case of AM 200 and 600, they conform to the same plan, each of which incorporates two spacious, symmetrical housing units for high-status individuals. In other words, this plan was used twice on the site to create four identical luxury residences in close proximity. The visible plan of AM 700 suggests that it, too, was a house of closely related form, but perhaps only a single unit. These houses, with their finely made stone columns and doorways, give the impression of having been built and financed not by their occupants but by a public authority. One would thus have to conclude from this that the houses had been constructed by the Kushite state to provide comfortable living quarters for the high officials it sent to work there. The very existence of a Kushite town in this remote place poses a number of questions. If it was a government installation on the Wadi Muqaddam, it surely cannot have existed in isolation. We would thus have to assume that between it and the Nile, probably both north and south, there were other closely linked Kushite settlements, caravan stops, herding stations and police or military garrisons, and that none of these was more than a day’s journey from the other. With the exception of some Meroitic surface remains reported south of Tamtam by the SARS survey team in 1997 (see Fn.17), no other evidence for a Meroitic presence here has yet been identified. If Al-Meragh was indeed a Kushite administrative center in the Wadi Muqaddam, can we assume that it was even the most important? Whether or not it was, we must surely wonder why this location was chosen for it, for today this place is one of the most desolate on the northern leg of the wadi. The area, furthermore, seems to be quite exposed and offers little in the way of defence. We observed no traces of defensive walls – but, of course, if they had been of mud brick, the surviving traces, like those of the mud-brick houses, would not have been visible without excavation.

The Ancient Environment of Al-Meragh Although the Wadi Muqaddam now seems a forbidding place, occasional drenching rains in late summer (July–September) bring water in most years. This allows the present nomad population to plant one or even two crops in the fall months in the wadi basin, where standing water can remain even as late as November. During the dry season (November–July), the land reverts to desert, and the people maintain a marginal living raising camels, sheep and goats, and have few other requirements for survival other than walking to the local wells several times a week, watering their livestock, and replenishing their own water supply. The only vegetation in the wadi today consists primarily of stunted, gnarled acacia trees, various bush-like plants or pygmy trees, and very limited areas of dried grasses. From the finds at Al-Meragh, one realizes very quickly that conditions there 2500 years ago must have been considerably better than today. At present there is no water available in the district other than from the Al-Meragh well, 2.5 km distant from the site. However, the great size and number of the mud brick buildings built here reveals that ample water was once available for brick making on a large scale, at least during the wet season. We should also take note of the wide spacing (3.9 m) between the columns in AM 200, 600 and 700. This reveals the size of the main rafters that must have been used in the ceilings, which would seem to imply that much larger trees once grew in the area. There are no straight or stout trees of © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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that size anywhere in the wadi today, but two millennia ago there must have been stands of palms, revealing that the land around Al-Meragh must have been much more fertile than it is now. The widespread existence of palms in the Bayuda, even in relatively recent centuries, is revealed by the Arabic name of the great wadi to the northeast: the Wadi Abu Dom (“Father of the Dom Palm”), where, except at Ghazali, no palms survive today. We also found cattle teeth in abundance in the excavations, suggesting that cattle were a mainstay of the local economy. Today cattle are rarely seen in the Bayuda, and along the Wadi Muqaddam there are none due to lack of pasturage.

Kushite Interest in the Wadi Muqaddam The site ofAl-Meragh, and the obvious affluence of its chief residents, suggests that the Kushite state, at least once, colonized and ruled this region and perhaps established control over all or much of the Wadi Muqaddam. Based on the foregoing observations, we can imagine that, at least in certain areas, the wadi was probably quite productive and supported large numbers of cattle. The primary interest of the Kushite ruler on the one hand may have been to open and develop the wadi road for trade and to ensure its security. On the other hand, he may have had an equal interest in dominating, policing, and taxing the fiercely independent local population, which, as we gather from the later Napatan royal inscriptions, had a great wealth in livestock but little inclination to recognize Kushite authority. These people had their own rulers; they periodically burst forth from the desert and raided the riverain towns, and they were a constant threat to Kushite regional stability and security.

The Destruction of Al-Meragh It may be assumed that Al-Meragh was built during a time of Kushite hegemony over the Wadi Muqaddam. Excavations all over the site show that the town was burned, apparently in a single episode, that it was left to ruin, and that it was never reoccupied except later – probably centuries later – by the tumulus builders. The fire was surely deliberate, since we found the same pattern of damage in contexts up to 100 m apart. Buildings of this type are not flammable from the outside, so a natural spreading of the fire from one to the next seems out of the question. Such houses can only be set on fire if their flammable roofing materials catch fire. Since the roofs are covered on the outside by mud brick, it is only on the inside of the rooms that the flammable beams and ceilings are exposed. It is thus only from the inside that the houses could have caught fire. We can only conclude, therefore, that the town was attacked and penetrated by an enemy force, which entered all the houses and then, probably after looting them, set them on fire from within. If these conclusions are correct, we may wonder about the identity of the tumulus builders. Who were they and what relation, if any, did they have to the Kushite town or its inhabitants? How much time separated them from the Kushite settlement? Why did these later inhabitants of Al-Meragh build their graves directly beside and over the ruined Kushite buildings, whose eroded walls must still have been visible when the tumuli were built? Did they venerate

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the memory of this place or its vanished inhabitants, or certain individuals, or the deities presumably worshiped here? Or did they have any memory or tradition of the older inhabitants at all? Did they identify the site as important for reasons other than the Kushite settlement? Further excavation may show the relationship of the earlier and later peoples, or a continuity of the site, but for now we have little to go on.

The Date of the Destruction of Al-Meragh Carbon samples were taken from the ash layers of the floors of several neighboring buildings. We had four of them analyzed by Beta Analytic Labs in Miami, Florida. The results were as follows: AM 700 (Beta 192328) Measured Radiocarbon Age: Conventional Radiocarbon Age: 2 Sigma Calibration: AM 600 (Beta 192333) Measured Radiocarbon Age: Conventional Radiocarbon Age: 2 Sigma Calibrations:

2630 +/- 70 BP 2680 +/- 70 BP 2920–2730 BP

(750–610 BC) 970–780 BC

2560 +/- 70 BP 2600 +/- 70 BP 2840–2690 BP 2660–2480 BP

(630–490 BC) 880–740 BC 710–530 BC

Unnumbered building northeast of AM 600 (‘Trench 6’) (Beta 194131) Measured Radiocarbon Age: 2430 +/- 40 BP Conventional Radiocarbon Age: 2440 +/- 40 BP (500 - 380 BC) 2 Sigma Calibration: 2720 - 2350 BP 770 - 400 BC Unnumbered building northeast of AM 600 (‘Trench 3’) (Beta 194132) Measured Radiocarbon Age: 2350 +/- 60 BP Conventional Radiocarbon Age: 2400 +/- 60 BP (460–340 BC) 2 Sigma Calibration: 2720–2330 BP 770–380 BC Range of averaged calibrated dates:

780–410 BC

Calibrated age of averaged conventional dates:

490–430 BC

The above dates all cluster within the Napatan Period. The earlier dates (especially the preferred 2 Sigma Calibrations) suggest that some of the wood used to construct the roofs of the houses may have been long dead when used in the construction of the houses, while the lower dates suggest an occupation of the site in the 5th c. BC and its destruction perhaps in the early 4th.

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Who Were the Destroyers? Our only historical information about the ancient Bayuda derives from the several surviving later Napatan royal texts. These suggest that it was not the same harsh desert it is today, at least not along the great wadis –Abu Dom, Muqaddam and El-Melik. These were probably inhabited by a mix of sedentary and transhumant peoples, living in small villages, raising large numbers of cattle, sheep and goats, and moving with them seasonally in search of pasturage and water. According to the texts, these people also owned slaves and were governed at the local level by chiefs, and on the regional level by supreme chiefs or ‘kings.’ Given the occasional mention of the latter having much wealth in gold, they must also, somewhere in the Bayuda, have had their ‘capitals’ and ‘palaces.’ Whether the Napatan inscriptions are later than or contemporary with the period of Al-Meragh, the situation they describe provides a context for understanding the ethnic, social and political processes at work here probably throughout Kushite times. The northern end of the Wadi Muqaddam intersects the Nile at the modern town of Korti on the left bank of the Nile. The Sudanese recognize that the name Korti has no Arabic derivation, nor can they offer any idea of its origin. The modern inhabitants of the town are called “Koarta.”4 For a long time scholars have equated the place name Krtn/K3rtn of the Napatan texts with Korti, since the ancient town was said to be “downstream from Napata,” just as modern Korti is 55 km downstream from Karima (the site of ancient Napata).5 In the Greco-Roman toponym lists of the Middle Nile, the name apparently continued variously as Cadetum, Cadata, or Coetum, which was also placed just downstream from “Nabatta.”6 The clearest indication of the correctness of the association Krtn = Korti derives from the Year 1–2 Kawa Stele of Irike-Amanote (ca. 430–400 BC). In this text the king states that he departed Napata soon after his coronation and tarried at Krtn, where he had a palace. On the eighth day after his arrival there, at dawn, the town was attacked by the “western desert dwellers called Meded (Mdd),” who fled when they saw that the king was there. The king’s soldiers gave chase and made a great slaughter among them without the Kushites losing a single man.7 In 2013, an archaeological team from the Czech Republic located an important Napatan palace and temple complex at Usli, only 10 km upstream from modern Korti on the same side of the river.8 There now seems little reason to doubt that this was the palace mentioned by Irike-Amanote, that this was the place called “Krtn”, and that Krtn, Korti and Usli are names designating essentially the same place. Because of the apparent phonetic relationship of the tribal name Mdd with the names Medjay (eastern desert dwellers) of earlier Egyptian texts and Beja of the modern eastern Sudan, scholars have generally preferred to place the Mdd on the east bank of the Nile in the Nubian Desert.9 They have thus assumed that the action referred to in the Irike-Amanote text occurred “opposite Korti” on the right bank, rather than at Korti itself, on the left bank. The text states, however, that the Mdd were “western desert dwellers” who attacked the town. If these Mdd really lived on the right bank, as proposed, it is highly unlikely that they would have 4 5 6 7 8 9

Interview with our informant Mohamed Ali of Al-Meragh, who accompanied us to Korti. Macadam 1949: 58–59. Eide et al. 1996: 552–557; Eide et al. 1998: 804–809. Eide et al. 1996: 407–408. Barta et al. 2013: 66–69. Macadam 1949: 58–59; Török 1997: 40–41, 380, 386.

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been designated ʻwesterners,ʼ since immediately around the bend of the river they would have had to be called ʻeasterners.ʼ On the other hand, if the left (here the south) bank was always the traditional ʻwestʼ bank, one would suspect the nomads of the Wadi Muqaddam still to be called “western desert dwellers.” In the stele of Harsiotef (ca. 390–350 BC), the king records that in his third regnal year he “fought with the rebels of Meded-land and …slaughtered it.” Again in his fifth year, he sent his infantry and cavalry “against the rebels of Meded-land,” but here he raided three towns of the (district called) Anruare and “(made) a great slaughter of it.” The Kushites even took prisoner its ruler and killed him. The following year, Harsiotef “called to many (to march) against Meded-land”, again fighting in one of the towns of the Meded and making “a great slaughter.” There he “took captive its long-horned oxen, its short horned cattle, its donkeys, its sheep, its goats, and its male slaves and female slaves.” The supreme chief of the Meded then sent to the king saying, “You are my god; I am your servant. I am a woman. Come to me.” He then had his deputy delivered over to the king so that Harsiotef might withdraw.10 It is interesting that for the remaining thirty years of Harsiotef’s reign there is not another mention of hostilities with the Meded, as though these people had reached some sort of accord with Meroë that lasted for a generation or more. Perhaps they even grudgingly submitted to Meroitic authority. It may even have been this very episode that allowed Kush to occupy the Wadi Muqaddam and to construct towns like Al-Meragh. The last great Kushite royal historical document written in Egyptian is that of Nastasen (ca. 335–315 BC), who enumerates many victories over various peoples on his frontiers. Most of these peoples are identified by very specific names, perhaps district or tribal sub-group names, which are not otherwise known. What is interesting to note, though, is the enormous wealth in cattle the Kushite king claims to have captured from them. Typical among these entries is the following: “I had the bowmen go against the rebels of Rebala and Akulakuro. I caused a great slaughter. I seized its chief Luboden, all his property in abundant gold, beyond reckoning, long-horned oxen: 203,216 (head), livestock: 603,107 (head), all the women, and all that with which a person is kept alive. I gave him, (this) chief, to Amun of Napata, my good father.”11 The huge numbers of animals listed seem to be inconceivable, but we may understand that a large quantity was intended. One gets the feeling that Nastasen may not actually have taken these animals captive; he may simply have taken over the lands of these people, counted up the livestock, property, and residents, and considered all of them his own. The large store of gold, “beyond reckoning,” of the ruler makes us wonder what form it took, whether raw or worked. Such comments, in any case, suggest that the regional desert chieftans were not necessarily culturally or materially impoverished. Whether any of these entries refers to the people of the Wadi Muqaddam, we cannot know for sure, but as the Wadi was one of the more fertile areas on the Kushite periphery, we must assume that it was well populated and prosperous (a fact confirmed by our archaeological survey) and that it played a central historical role. Later in Nastasen’s text, a people called the Mdyy are said to have raided the temple of Kawa and to have stolen the treasures donated to it centuries earlier by Aspelta. Because Kawa lies on the east bank of the Nile, about 200 km downstream from Korti/Usli, it has generally been assumed that the name Mdyy and Mdd referred to the same people, and that, like the Medjay of 10 11

Eide et al. 1996: 448–450. Eide et al. 1996: 489.

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the Egyptian texts and the modern Beja, they lived on the east bank of the Nile.12 But tempting as the equation Mdd = Mdyy = Medjay = Beja seems, we cannot be sure that they were really all the same people, or, as suggested above, that they all lived exclusively, throughout history, on the east side of the Nile. Nor can we rule out the possibility that the name in its variants was simply a generic ethnic term, applied, at least in Meroitic times, to cattle pastoralists living on both sides of the Nile. One is reminded of the modern Sudanese generic term ʻArab,ʼ used to describe a ʻnomadʼ of any of a number of different tribes. The name Mdd may have been a similar generic, for Nastasen’s text gives these peoples specific – and different – tribal names. One would assume that the Meded raided Krtn/Korti/Usli and other Kushite river towns probably only during the dry season, when they would have been desperately seeking fodder and water for their livestock. In the text of Irike-Amanote, the Meded raid occurred in the “first month of the Inundation,” about two weeks after the start of the New Year in mid-July. This time, just before the commencement of the summer rains, is precisely when the herdsmen of the desert would have been under greatest stress due to shortage of water and fodder for their animals. The same situation holds true for the desert people of today.

Survey of the Wadi Muqaddam Between Tamtam and Korti The unexpected discovery of Al-Meragh pointed out the need for us not only to investigate the site itself but also the entire Wadi Muqaddam, especially the 129 km between Tamtam and Korti (Figs. 2, 24). In modern times, this was always a road that outsiders drove through as fast as possible, without taking the time to look around, to explore the country or to speak with the people whose hard fate it was to live there. Not surprisingly, the data on this huge region is still sketchy and far out of date. The information still most widely used is that gathered in 1903 by Col. M. G. Talbot, who conducted a survey between Omdurman and Korti by camelback.13 It was Talbot’s data that still appeared on the modern printed maps we used when we were there. To those familiar with the route, as we became, a glance at the maps revealed that Talbot recorded only a small number of landmark names, and of those he did record, he sometimes misunderstood the Arabic and rendered the names incorrectly.14 He also noted no ancient sites except the great walled enclosure of El-Hosh (38 km south of Al-Meragh, about which more will be said below). Furthermore, since his expedition, many more wells were put into operation and had already been used for over fifty years, yet none of these “new wells” appeared on any of the maps.15 Even the Bayuda maps made from Landsat images and issued in 1989 by the German Research Foundation (DFG), still employed only Talbot’s place names, apparently since his were the only ones then published.16 Thanks to Pawel Wolf, it was the DFG maps that we had 12 13 14 15 16

Eide et al. 1996: 501. Gleichen 1905: 183–186. For example, his “Abu Mera” is Abu Meragh or today simply Al-Meragh. We had the same difficulty getting the names, for we found that the nomads, too, often misunderstood the original names and corrupted them into something else. See Appendix. See, for example, the Sudan Survey Dept. 1:250,000 map Baiyuda (sheet 45-J), published 1975. Issued by the German Research Foundation, Technische Fachhochschule Berlin, Sfb-Labor, R 446, Luxemburger Str. 10, D-1000 Berlin 65, Germany.

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with us, and we found them indispensable. Our aim during the 2000 season was to familiarize ourselves thoroughly with the area, within the limited time available to us, and to discover as much as we could about its features, its place names, its environment, its seasonal conditions, its history, its antiquities, and its residents and their life-ways and traditions. Archaeological knowledge of the Wadi Muqaddam was greatly increased in 1997–98 with the preliminary publication of the results of the survey conducted along part of its course by a team from the Sudan Archaeological Research Society (SARS), London. The purpose of their mission was to try to record all the sites in the path of the then-new Omdurman to Ed-Debba highway that would likely be disturbed or destroyed by the road construction. The SARS team reported finding 192 sites, of which the majority, they stated, lined the 120 km of the Wadi Muqaddam which the roadbed paralleled as far as Tamtam. Apart from a single Palaeolithic site, they reported finding Mesolithic and early Neolithic sites, a few Meroitic sites, and many others which they believed were Post-Meroitic and Medieval and represented almost exclusively cemeteries of tumulus graves. They noted a gap in material remains between the Late Prehistoric and Napatan Periods, while the great increase in Post-Meroitic sites, they suggested, may have been a result of expanded well-building activities. Their data is extremely interesting and served as a kind of check on our own, while ours concurred with their conclusions and perhaps added some historical context.17 Our survey was conducted over a course of only four days, or parts of days, and each day we focused on a different area or direction. Obviously this sort of ‘touring’ was not the methodical sort of work done by the SARS team, but our results are significant and offer a basic framework for further research of a more focused or meticulous nature. Our program was simple. Travelling in the Mercedes vehicle, we investigated as many visible features or sites as we could see and took their position readings with a GPS (Fig. 24). Mey Saied served as our interpreter with the nomads, whom we interviewed at the various wells. We also took with us as guides local men who knew the roads, the mountains, the location of ancient sites, and who could answer questions about the environment, the local life processes, and the folklore. Where possible, we tried to ask the same questions of several different individuals in order to check the accuracy or at least similarity of the accounts we received. When we started out, we did not know what we would learn, but no information was beyond our interest. We assumed that all of it would be useful and valuable.

Important Observations of the Survey We learned on our survey that the Wadi Muqaddam is not the empty place it appears to be at casual glance; it has a rich cultural history, yet to be revealed, and contains many important ancient sites, primarily cemeteries in the form of tumulus fields. The tumuli are of many types and sizes, so that it is not at all clear yet whether their differences are chronological, cultural, or reflective only of local taste or availability of building materials in a given period. Such graves are usually called ‘Post-Meroitic,’ but we have no idea how long such tumulus burials 17

See Mallinson 1997: 30–33; Mallinson 1998: 42–45; Smith 1998: 45–52; Fuller 1998: 52–60. See also Mallinson et al. this volume.

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may have been in use here. The tumulus grave type, after all, seems a natural and timeless sort of funerary monument, and it is hard to imagine that all these mounds are specific to one era. Some of the graves and cemeteries may be much older. Even if the graves are predominantly late, we do not have any idea how old the settlements are whose presence they mark. The settlements, if they could be found, might well have occupation histories predating the tumuli, as was the case at Al-Meragh. In some cases, as we also found at Al-Meragh, the remains of older villages might be found lying directly under more recent cemeteries. The ancient cemeteries of the Wadi Muqaddam are of various sizes, so they can suggest not only the locations of ancient settlements but also their relative importance. They also suggest the local lines of communication and the primary ancient water sources.

Fig. 24: Satellite photo of the NCAM survey area (Fig. 2), showing the major ancient sites and wells between Tamtam and Korti (photo Google Earth).

The Antiquity of the Bayuda Wells We noticed that most of the ancient cemeteries in the Wadi Muqaddam lay very near or directly beside a modern well. When we inquired about the age of the wells, the people who lived around them universally said that they were “old wells” discovered by “their grandfathers,” who found them already built but filled with sand. Their “grandfathers,” they stated, simply dug them out and put them back into service. We were left to assume that this took place only © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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two or three generations ago. These “old wells”, now constantly used and maintained by the people, are all generally about 40 m deep and about 1.3 to 1.8 m in diameter, and are lined for several meters depth with stone slabs. The local people all said the wells were built by the Anaj (“Ancient Ones”), about whom they knew nothing factual and had only folktales. They do not know where the name Anaj comes from, except that it was handed down to them from their ancestors. In their minds, the Anaj were giants (“They were very big men,” as one man said to us). (Pawel Wolf reported that the 2.5 times lifesize images carved on the walls of the Lion Temple at Musawwarat es-Sufra are believed by the nomads there to show the Anaj at their actual size!) In the Bayuda the Anaj are said to have been able to dig a well whenever they were thirsty simply by getting down on one knee and scooping out the earth with their hands. Then after they had drunk, they moved on. “That explains why there are so many wells in the desert,” said an old man at Al-Meragh. Perhaps the most amusing story we heard was that offered by one of our neighbors at Al-Meragh. He said that when one of the wells at Umm Burra was being cleared of sand, it was found to have a paving stone at its mouth with an inscription on it. The people, he said, believed that the words read “I made this before breakfast.” The accuracy of the tradition of the antiquity of the wells can be confirmed in two ways. First, in 1903, when Talbot passed through our area, he recorded the existence of wells only at Umm Tub and Adat Matar (Umm Jeggara). When we surveyed the same region (between Tamtam and Korti), we found seven more wells along the route: Al-Likhrit (6 km N of Tamtam), Umm Burra (2 wells) (16 km N of Al-Likhrit), Hezamiya (21 km N of Umm Burra), Al-Meragh (20 km N of Hezamiya and 17.5 km S of Umm Tub), Wad el-Ein (11.3 km N of Al-Meragh and 6.2 km SW of Umm Tub), and Al-Kóhara (13 km N of Adat Matar, which is 28.5 km N of Umm Tub) (Fig. 24). At each of these places (with the exception of the Wad el-Ein well, which was said to have been built about 1982), the people reported that the wells were all “old wells,” built by the Anaj and rediscovered and put back into service by their “grandfathers.” The six “new” wells, unknown to Talbot, had obviously been rediscovered and rehabilitated after 1903. We gathered the second proof of the antiquity of the wells from an old man of Al-Meragh, who informed us that there were several “old wells” nearby which had never been dug out but whose existence was widely known by the nomads. He agreed to show them to us. One, called Wad Abdullah, was clearly an ancient well, for although its mouth was buried in sand, around it was a circle of ruined but unmistakable stone-built animal troughs just like those visible around the present wells. On the ground there were fragments of pottery, but of unidentifiable type (Fig. 29). How ancient were these wells, and who built them? The implications are intriguing. The digging of wells is a difficult and time-consuming business, requiring a major effort – and financing. For example, the Wad el-Ein well, as we learned, took about a year to dig. Welldiggers are occupied for many weeks or months at their task, and they need to be supplied with food and water, which sometimes must be brought great distances. Were these wells dug one at a time by small bands of local people in response to the drying out of the Bayuda, simply to supply their own needs? Or was there perhaps some master initiative in the beginning to build wells along the Wadi Muqaddam, perhaps in order to develop the region and to open the caravan road for year-round travel, which, prior to the wells, might have been restricted only to the wet months of late summer and fall? © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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As can be seen from the list of wells above, the “old wells” of the Wadi Muqaddam are spaced no farther from each other than one half to a full day’s journey by foot, and many surely remain to be found. Many of the known wells also lie adjacent to ancient sites: for example Umm Burra (large tumulus field), Hezamiya (large tumulus field), Al-Meragh (townsite and tumuli), Umm Tub (large tumulus field), etc. There are also other large cemeteries in intermediate locations where there are no wells presently known but where they must surely exist: for example, Umm Mereikh, Abu Dakka (between Hezamiya and Al-Meragh), and Gereid-Fuweika (between Adat Matar and Al-Kóhara). Was the digging of these wells uncoordinated, or did some central authority organize their construction at convenient points along this road as a single program to facilitate trade or settlement? If so, who or what was this authority? Did this process begin only in the Post-Meroitic period, or did it go back to the Napatan Period? Future archaeological study of the wells and the ancient sites beside them ought to prove extremely interesting.

El-Hosh: An Ancient Fort Defending the Entrance to the Wadi? If one drives north from Tamtam, following the Wadi Muqaddam, the flat desert landscape ends after about 25 km, and the wadi bed passes between two small conical mountains about the same size, leading into a valley protected by a string of mountains on its west side and by occasional jebels on the east (Fig. 30). This naturally protected stretch of the wadi must have been relatively fertile and well populated in ancient times, judging by the cemeteries of tumuli one encounters intermittently along the track for the next 40 km. On the western conical hill there is a stout semicircular wall, draped like a necklace on its south slope. The wall is known as El-Hosh (“The Enclosure”) (Figs. 25, 26, 30, 32), and the mountain is known as Jebel el-Hosh.

Fig. 25: View of El-Hosh from the S, showing the main gateway in the center of the wall.

The wall, open on the upslope of the hill, encloses an area about 160 m wide (east to west) by 65 m broad on the downslope, and on its lower south side it extends slightly beyond the base of the hill to enclose part of the flat ground. In the middle of the wall there is a gateway, at which point the wall is about 2.5 m high and about the same in thickness. As the wall rises up © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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the hillside it gets lower and narrower on both sides, but near the top of the west side there is a small secondary gate.18 Its masonry is quite distinctive, consisting of many large rough stones set on end, laid side by side like books in a bookcase (Fig. 26). Known as ‘vertical masonry,’ it is a type of construction familiar in other desert fortifications recorded elsewhere in Sudan, dating from the Middle Kingdom to the Medieval Period.19 We asked the people at the nearby Umm Burra wells if they had any memories of El-Hosh, or if they had any traditions about it, but they said they did not. They said they had little to do with it since it was not near water or any good agricultural or grazing land.

Fig. 26: Detail of the ‘vertical masonry’ of the El-Hosh wall.

Inside the wall we noted some very unusual features. For example, along its circuit on the inside are remains of several ruined circular structures (‘guard towers’?), and on the western interior of the enclosure there are traces of a single large circular ring, 3–4 m diameter, of smaller upright stones, laid just like the stones in the wall. Directly behind this feature there is a rock bearing a single incised figure of a bovine with exaggeratedly long, forward-projecting horns (Fig. 27).20 The style of drawing is different from the familiar cattle graffiti of Meroitic 18 19 20

For a published description of El-Hosh, see M.G. Talbot in Gleichen 1905: 185. On other related structures in the region, see, for example, Edmonds 1940: 294–303; Crabitès 1938: 78; Arkell 1961: 196, Pl. 24. For the most recent studies of this type of architecture, see Liszka 2017 (and references); Jesse 2014: 545–555 (and references); Jesse & Vogel 2013. I am very grateful to F. W. Hinkel for bringing this drawing to my attention; it was he who discovered it during his Bayuda research for his Archaeological Map of the Sudan (see Hinkel 1977). Because this rock drawing was exposed and could easily be lifted, I removed it and placed it face down adjacent to its original location.

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contexts, and it has the look of something very much older.21 In the eastern interior of the enclosure one can also see a small concentration of bones and shells, which is obvious food debris. The shells are fresh-water molluscs, which can only grow in areas of permanent standing water.22 Both inside and outside the enclosure evidence for pottery was extremely rare, and the sherds appeared to be intrusive. Furthermore, scattered on the ground, both inside and outside the gateway, was a dense concentration of chipped stone wasters, including a few samples of finished microlithic bladelets. One of the mollusc shells produced a radiocarbon date in the late eighth millennium BC. On the other hand, fragments of ostrich shell found in the hosh produced a radiocarbon date of 700–900 AD. One suspects that the site itself had first been occupied during the Neolithic and that much later, sometime after 2000 BC, it had been surrounded by the wall.23

Fig. 27: Rock drawing of a bovine, on a pile of rocks directly behind (i.e. to the N of) the large circular foundation inside El-Hosh.

It is clear that the builders of El-Hosh were organized and governed by a strong central authority, which commanded that the wall be built. Was this a local ruler, or was it the king of Kush? Whoever it was, the same authority must also have controlled all or much of the northern Wadi Muqaddam, for it is this area that El-Hosh seems to have been built to protect. The location of the wall, on the W side of the southern entrance to the jebel-lined wadi road, suggests that it was built either to prevent invaders from passing into this naturally protected zone (in which there were a number of important settlements beyond, indicated by the tumulus 21

22 23

I showed the drawing to Cornelia Kleinitz, asking her opinion of its possible date, and she responded by saying, “I think the zoomorph could very well be Meroitic, not younger, though. We have quite a range of ‘styles’ at that time, some of them very similar to much more ancient cattle depictions. It could also be older, of course. Technique, patination and location context could make one or another date more likely, or the comparison with further rock art nearby (but there does not seem to be any?).” The shell midden was first recognized and brought to our attention by Habab Idriss Ahmed. This date range is suggested by the fortresses documented by Liszka and Jesse in the publications cited in Fn. 19. Note also the radiocarbon date sequence in Jesse 2013: 329.

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fields of Hezamiya, Umm Mereikh, Abu Dakka, Umm Tub, and of course Al-Meragh). On the other hand, it could have been built as a customs station, from which tolls could be collected from caravans coming from the south. The hosh in this case would have served as a kind of a stone zeriba into which all the pack animals could have been herded for inspection of their goods, and duties or tribute levied. The summit of the hill would also have offered an ideal spot from which to identify traffic coming from the south.

Summary of Results Despite the limited time we could work in the Wadi Muqaddam in 1999 and 2000, we were able to familiarize ourselves with a large geographical area of the Sudan about which very little was previously known archaeologically. Our data, still very imperfect and incomplete, is nevertheless presented here as a foundation on which others can build, and it can serve as a basic guide to the survey area. No doubt many of the opinions expressed here will have to be refined or changed as work continues, but one thing is certain: that exploring the great wadis of the Bayuda – and especially this one – will be work of great profit. To recapitulate briefly what we have learned from these researches: the northern Wadi Muqaddam is a complex culture area of great antiquity that has witnessed major environmental change since the Neolithic period. The southern entrance to it was defended at some still unknown historical point by the stronghold of El-Hosh, which gives the impression of having been a defensive installation of a chief or state, controlling what must once have been the southern entrance to the important road and settled region immediately to the north. For much of the Wadi the only other obvious ancient remains are tumulus graves and cemeteries, which are generally the only monuments visible because they were built with stone. The tumuli are not all of the same type, which may suggest chronological or cultural differences that can only be determined through excavation. Many of the graves are isolated and perched on high promontories; others cluster in small groups. Some of the cemeteries consist of large tumuli surrounded by other smaller graves hardly visible on the surface. The larger cemeteries would seem to reveal the locations both of the most important ancient settlements in the wadi and the sites of the best ancient water sources. The distance between these cemeteries/sites reveals that they are spaced between one half to one day’s foot journey from each other and must have been the main stops for ancient traffic traversing the Wadi Muqaddam in the later historical periods. At Al-Meragh, we found that ancient tumuli are built directly over the remains of a Napatan period townsite. This suggests that perhaps some of the other townsites in the wadi may be found directly beneath later cemeteries. We further discovered that nearly all the larger ancient cemeteries are also close to modern wells. At every one of these wells the local people repeated the same story: that the wells are ancient, that it was their grandfathers who discovered them already built, and that it was they who dug the sand from them and put them back into service. The wells, therefore, must be at least contemporary with the cemeteries and maybe even earlier. Whether they are as old as the Napatan occupation of the wadi remains to be determined. The townsite at Al-Meragh proves that the central Bayuda was occupied at least once by the Kushite state. Its remains, which lie now in almost complete desert, reveal that when it was built the land around it was still moderately fertile, with sufficient water for large-scale © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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brick-manufacturing, with palm trees utilized for lumber (roof beams) and cattle raised in great numbers. The buildings discovered thus far all seem to be private houses, but the largest were also of a plan and quality that suggests they were built not by their occupants but by the State itself. The houses are duplex units of identical plan, and their stone columns and doorways suggest that they were occupied by high-status individuals, probably the officials sent by the Meroitic Court to live there and to serve as its representatives. The town appears to have been occupied no more than one or two generations before it was destroyed by fire, probably in the fifth or early fourth c. BC, apparently by an enemy, who, in a single attack, torched all the buildings from within. Late Napatan texts suggest that this enemy was the people called the Meded, who were said to live in the area ʻwestʼ of Krtn. Krtn, which was likely the source of the modern name of Korti, was probably in fact the ancient name of the archaeological site of Usli, 10 km upstream of modern Korti. It was this area that would have formed the northern terminus of the Wadi Muqaddam.

Appendix Compilation of Raw Data from the NCAM Survey of the Wadi Muqaddam Between Tamtam and Korti: November 7–28, 2000 Collected by T. Kendall and Mey Saied, with Mey Saied acting as interpreter

I. Life, History, and Well-lore in the Wadi Muqaddam Interview with Abdullah, about 35 years old, resident of Al-Meragh and member of the Habassab branch of the Hawawir While working at Al-Meragh, our team was visited almost on a daily basis by two brothers, Abdullah and MohamedAli, who lived with their families near the foot of Jebel Jumal (Fig. 14), about 4 km from the well at Al-Meragh and about 2 km west of our site. During their daily journeys to and from the well with their animals, they passed by our camp and became frequent guests. Prompted by our questions, Abdullah gave the following details about his family, his tribe, and life in the Wadi Muqaddam: “I and my family live near here together with my brother, Mohamed Ali and his family. We have another brother who lives at Umm Tub (17.5 km north of Al-Meragh); his name is Sid Ahmed. A fourth brother, the son of my father’s second wife, also lives at Umm Tub. We had a sister, but she died. We also have many cousins whom we call ‘brothers.’” “We belong to the Hawawir tribe. The Hawawir has seven sub-sections. These are the Habassab, Amashin, Fekiab, Himerab, Siqedab, Abdab, and Wilad el-Amin. We are from the Habassab. Each section lives near a well, and the well and the surrounding lands are considered the property of that section. In times of stress, anyone from any section of the Hawawir is welcomed at any well owned by another section of the tribe, and they can stay there temporarily until conditions improve. Afterward, when conditions improve, they must go back to their own land and well. The land and wells from Al-Meragh to Umm Tub belong to the Habassab. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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The land from Al-Meragh to Hezamiya (20 km south of Al-Meragh) belongs to the Amashin; the land around El-Hosh and Umm Burra (21 km south of Hezamiya) belongs to the Abdab. The land north of Umm Tub (the 48.5 km to the Nile at Korti) belongs to the Suwarab tribe, who are not related to us.” “The Habassab had a different ancestor from the other six sections of the Hawawir. The Habassab descend from an ancestor called Habass Beit en-Nebi (“Protector of the House of the Prophet”), whereas the other six sections descend from an ancestor called Wad el-Fellati (“Son of the Fulani Tribesman”), who came from the West. He married a beautiful girl called Umm Ruba, so they are all together known as the Rubab.” [Compare here the different tradition reported by Hassan Hamid, a resident of Hezamiya: “The Hawawir came from the north, from the area of Ganetti (a little west of Korti), and they moved southward gradually. They came here and found the land unoccupied. The name Hawawir comes from an ancient ancestor who was called Hawwar. He had two sons: one called El-Ahmar (“The Red”) and the other called Abdel Basset. El-Ahmar’s offspring were called the Habassab, since El-Ahmar was also called Habass (“Protector”). He was a knight and protected the road to the place where they lived at Ganetti and Bayuda. He had a mounted army composed of his sons and brothers and they wore padded armor. Abdel Basset married a beautiful woman of the Kababish named Umm Ruba. This was 13 or 14 generations ago. Umm Ruba had one son named Hamid, who was called ‘Wad Umm Ruba.’ He, however, had many sons, and these became the founders of the six sections of the Rubab. One of Hamid’s sons was called the ‘Fellati’ and his tribe became the Fekiab (because he was a feki or faith healer).”]24 (Abdullah continues:) “In the old days the Rubab had some trouble with the Habassab, so they have different brands on their camels. These brands have been handed down from their separate ancestors (see Fig. 28).”

Fig. 28: Camel brand marks of the Rubab (left) and Habassab (right).

“The Habassab have always lived here (i.e. between Al-Meragh and Umm Tub). If any Habassab has a problem with the government anywhere, he would be brought back here.” “I don’t go to the Nile very often, but if I do go, I go to Korti or to Tangasi. I go only if there has been a death in the family, or if I wish to sell my animals, or if I need to feed my animals in times of drought when there is insufficient pasturage here. If I sell my animals, I go to Tangasi, since there is a bigger suq. If I only take camels, it takes me three days and I go direct. I don’t stop, since the route doesn’t have any wells. If I take small livestock, I follow the wells, stopping at each, and this brings me to Korti. From there I go to Tangasi. I know all the people living around the wells; they are all related to me in one way or another.” 24

We speculate that the tradition about the “Fellati” – the West African ancestor – may have been altered in the second version to sweeten the subject, since the northern Sudanese Arabs are normally contemptuous of West Africans and would not wish to advertise their descent from one.

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“Sometimes we dig new wells. There are well-digging specialists within the tribe, and they come and dig new ones occasionally. But some of the wells are very old, built by the Anaj (“Ancient Ones”). We find these filled with sand. The ancient wells around here are Umm Tub, Al-Meragh, Hezamiya, and Umm Burra. These were all found filled with sand by our grandfathers, who dug them out and started using them again. They found that they were already lined with stones around their mouths. At Umm Burra there are two wells, and both were built by the Anaj. My grandfathers said that when one of the wells at Umm Burra was being cleared of sand, it was found to have a paving stone at its mouth with an inscription on it. It said: ‘I made this before breakfast.’”25 “On the way to Korti there are two old wells – built by the Anaj – beyond Umm Tub. These are called Abu Jéggara and Al-Kóhara, and both of them belong to the Suwarab tribe. The Sawarab are not related to the Hawawir.”26 “The wells never run dry, but sometimes the people living near a well move away, and they allow it to fill with sand (i.e. as would quickly happen during the sandstorm season in March and April). There is an old well of the Suwarab near here called Dubaiya, which is now filled up with sand to a depth of ‘15 men.’ It was originally ‘30 men’ deep.”27 “We dig out the wells once a year. A sack is lowered into the well. It has four ropes attached to it. One or two men go down into the well. They use their hands to scoop the wet sand into the sack, and when it is full enough, the men above raise the sack and empty it.” “During the rainy season, people living near the Nile bring their animals south into the desert to graze their animals. When there is no rain, the people living in the desert bring their animals nearer the river. All of us are ‘family’ and we share what we have.” 25

26 27

Many people of the Bayuda we encountered seemed to have little knowledge of history before their own grandparents. Nor do they regularly count years as we do. They remember dates by events. For example, they might say something happened “six years before the flood (meaning the flood of 1988).” Or “in the time of my father” (i.e. before I was born). When they speak of their “great-grandparents,” they often mean their “ancestors.” They know of events that occurred during the Mahdiyya (1883–1898), since some of them knew of battles with the “Dervishes” that occurred at the wells – battles in which some people were killed. They also have knowledge of things that happened during the Turkiya (1821–1883), since that was the time when they say some of the wells here started to be found and dug out by their “grandfathers” and began to be reused. Some people, however, are surprisingly ignorant of events even of the recent past. Abdullah’s brother, Mohamed Ali (about 43 years old), for example, told us that El-Hosh had been built by his grandfathers to protect themselves from the British during the Mahdiyya. In fact, unbeknownst to him, the Hawawir had sided with the British during the war and had fought against the Mahdists. The older men knew this perfectly well, and of El-Hosh they said only that it was a useless old construction about which they knew nothing. Many, of course, can recall their tribal genealogies back several centuries, but much of the lore is folklore, and, as shown above, the traditions are variable. Before this relatively recent history came the time of the Anaj. The Bayuda people don’t know where this name came from or what it means, but this is the name, handed down by their ancestors, given to the race of men that dug most of their wells and who built the tumuli seen everywhere in the region. In their minds, the Anaj were giants. Abdullah’s story of the inscription on the well at Um Burra is very amusing, but we found no one at Umm Burra who had heard of it (although, in truth, when we were at Umm Burra there were only two or three people there, none of them very knowledgable). In fact, we discovered that the Suwarab and Hawawir often intermarry, and that they are indeed closely related. But they consider tribal relationship to pass down only through the male line, so a son of a Hawawir woman married to a Suwarab man would be a Suwarab, and would “not be related” to the Hawawir. The nomads measure well depth by a local unit called a rejel (i.e. rajul = “man”), which is considered the length between the two arms outstretched, or about 170 cm.

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When MohamedAli,Abdullah’s brother, appeared, we asked him how long it took him to travel by camel to the different wells in the area. He said, “I sometimes take my animals south to Tamtam and it takes three days. The first day I go from Al-Meragh to Hezamiya (20 km). The second day I stop at Umm Burra (21 km further) and continue on to Al-Likhrit (16 km further still). Al-Likhrit is an old well (i.e. built by the Anaj) just north of Tamtam. When I am on one of these trips, I stop only for fatur (breakfast), which I eat by myself, and ghadda (lunch).”

II. Osman Said, Habassab Resident of Al-Meragh, Shows Us Two ‘Ancient’ Wells Osman Said was an old man, about 60 to 70 years old, who stopped by our camp at Al-Meragh riding a camel. He said he was looking for one of his camels that had disappeared about a month earlier. He said he had travelled quite far in search of the missing animal, and that he came from the east side of Jebel el-Meragh (as we discovered, about 20 km east). We invited him for breakfast and dinner (and he stayed for the following breakfast). In conversation with him, we learned that he had always lived in the area, that he was a member of the Habassab branch of the Hawawir, and that when a child, he used to play among the ruins of Al-Meragh. He said that people used to take stones from the site for reuse, but “they don’t do this any more.” When we asked him about the wells and their age, he repeated that they were all “old,” built by the Anaj, and that “they had only been cleared out since the Turkiya.” He also added that he knew the sites of several “old” wells that had never been dug out, although the men of the tribe knew their locations perfectly well in case they ever needed to be used. These were wells called Bir Kabrun (or ‘Abrun) and Wad Abdullah, and there was a third without a name. We asked him if he could show them to us, and he readily agreed, saying the last two were close: “far by camel but near by car.” We said we could take him in the car, and he agreed to guide us.

Bir Wad Abdullah (Fig. 29)

Location: 17º34.007’N 31º43.655’E The site was far to the east of Jebel el-Meragh, about ten kilometers out in the desert. It lay in a nearly featureless plain. We had trouble understanding how Osman Said knew exactly where he was going, since to our eyes there seemed to be no distinguishing landmarks along the route. Nevertheless, he knew the way precisely, and at last, after directing us this way and that with his arm, finally said “Stop, we are here.” At first we saw nothing, but when he pointed out the site we began to see what looked like a vague circle of six clusters of small upright stones set in melted mud. These indeed seemed to be the remains of a series of watering troughs for animals just as are seen around all the wells currently in use. The center of the circle, where the well mouth should have been, was only sand. Around the site were chipped stones and a few potsherds of apparent ancient date. If this was indeed an ancient well, it is easy to see why the present inhabitants of the area have never dug it out. There is only desert around it, and there is no land here suitable for habitation or grazing animals. We took photos, recorded its position, and then went to the second site. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 29: Bir Wad Abdullah.

The “No Name Well”

Location: 17º37.397’N 31º42.132’E This site also lay in the middle of a plain about ten kilometers north of Al-Meragh, on the way to Umm Tub. It was just as hard to understand how Osman Said could find it, but he knew the way perfectly. This site was unmarked except for four upright black stones, spaced about four meters apart in a square. He said the stones revealed the site where one would find the mouth of the well if one dug there. He said this well was “made by the Anaj” and was last dug out during the Turkiya.

III. Survey of Landmarks, Wells, Conditions, and Antiquities from Tamtam to Korti, with the Comments of the Local Residents (Figs. 2, 24) Tamtam

Position: 17º02.488’N 31º36.394’E Location: 227 km from Omdurman on the paved trans-Bayuda highway. This is a settlement founded about 1996, with mosque, restaurants, petrol station, auto/lorry repair facilities, good water supply, and homes and school for its few permanent residents. In 1999, it marked the limit of the asphalt road from Omdurman through the Bayuda, but by 2000–2001 it marked the point where the paved highway turned sharply to the northwest, joining the Nile’s left bank at Ganetti and Ed-Debba. With the completion of this paved link © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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across the Bayuda, the formerly-heavily used dirt track which passed due north, through the Wadi Muqaddam, to Korti was abandoned and almost completely ceased to be used by motor traffic. It was this traditional 129 km dirt track through the wadi that we chose for survey, since our site Al-Meragh lay about half way between Tamtam and Korti. Between Omdurman and Tamtam, the Bayuda landscape is primarily flat and featureless. The same sort of terrain continues about 22 km north of Tamtam. From Tamtam one can see on the northern horizon a range of small rugged hills. The Korti road passes just east of the mountain range, between two small conical hills. The one on the right (east) is called Jebel Gombur and that on the left (west) is Jebel el-Hosh (Fig. 30).

Al-Likhrit Well

Position: 17º05.831’N 31º36.522’E Location: 6 km north of Tamtam, 16 km from Umm Burra, 35 km from Hezamiya, 57 km from Al-Meragh, 123 km from Korti Circumference of mouth: 150 cm diam. N–S, 168 cm E–W Depth: Said to be “25 men” deep (about 42 m) with a water depth of “5 men” (about 8.5 m) Our informant here was a man named Sid Ahmed, about 40 years old, who lamented that he had no wife or children and that he spent all his time drawing water for his animals, and that it was exhausting work without any help from a family. He begged us to help fund a pump. He said the well is owned by the Amashin branch of the Hawawir tribe and got its name from a special type of grass that used to grow in the area. He said that this was an old well, “built by the Anaj,” and that it was found filled with sand and was cleared out during the Turkiya. Before this well was cleared of sand, he said, “people here had to go all the way to the river with camels to get water” (123 km!). He and the other men there offered us some of the water. It tasted a bit salty or bitter, having a taste very similar to the water at Al-Meragh (which our workmen refused to drink). The nomads, however, drink it and like it. Because in this district we were still well inside the Bayuda, it seemed to us that some of these men might have travelled occasionally with their animals to Omdurman. It thus seemed a good opportunity to get some information from them about the ‘old road’ across the desert to the south, which would surely have been the same one used since ancient times. So we inquired of them about the way to Omdurman and what road they would take with their camels. We asked them if the new asphalt road was the same as the ‘old road.’ All of the men said at once that they knew the old road very well and that it was not the same as the new paved road. The old road, they said, follows a different course and lies sometimes quite far to the west of the paved road (see Fig. 2). Sid Ahmed described the ‘old road’ for us and recited for us what wells were along the way and how far they were from one another. When we asked him if there were any “Anaj remains” along this route, he said there were “many” as well as some “big cemeteries.”28 28 In 1997, the SARS team conducted a survey along the planned route of the new paved road between Omdurman and Ganetti/Gabolab. They recorded 192 sites, of which the majority, they stated, lined the 120 km of the Wadi Muqaddam. It seems clear from looking at their published map of the new road and their survey, however, that they did not investigate the route of the ‘old road’ through the Wadi and thus probably did not see the most important sites. See Fn. 17. See also Mallinson et al. in this volume.

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Sid Ahmed said that using the ‘old road,’ it took seven to nine days to reach Omdurman from Al-Likhrit travelling by camel. He also said it took 1.5 days by lorry (prior to the completion of the paved road). He and the other men said that when they travelled via the ‘old road’ to Omdurman, they started out each day about 8:00 AM; they travelled continuously for about four hours and then stopped again at mid-day and rested for a couple of hours. They then started again at 2:00 PM and continued till 6:00, and rested for an hour or so. At night they navigated by the stars, but they always took a guide with them. Below are the names given to us by Sid Ahmed of all the wells on the ‘old road’ between Al-Likhrit and Omdurman. These are given with the estimated time distances said to lie between them by camel. (Clearly they do not add up to “seven to nine days”!). The names are given from north to south. Umm Ratot: one hour (from Al-Likhrit) Umm Rumeila (“Mother of Fine Sand”): half an hour Bir al-Deiga (two wells) (“Well of Difficulties” or “The Narrows”): three hours Miheili: three hours Umm Ahanna (Umm al-Hanna?) (“Mother of Well-Being”): quarter hour Umm Harot (“Mother of Black Soil”): three hours Bir el-Fera’a (“The Branch”): two hours Bir el-Ko’arin (“The Beehives”): two hours Bir Wad el-Hedaiy: four hours Bir Sudj: three hours Dunk Umm Serha (“Shallow Well of Mother Serha”[?]): twelve hours He said that one hour after Dunk Umm Serha the hill called Jebel el-Merkhiyet comes into view, which marks the outskirts of Omdurman This itinerary may be compared with the list of wells made by Talbot in December 1903. Talbot names (from north to south, from about the region of what is now Tamtam) only the wells called Umm Rumeila, (12 miles from) Bir Eminalla, (10 miles from) Bir el-Agami (“Ahanna?”), (6 miles from) Gaerin (“Ko’arin”), (4 miles from) Fanga, (5 miles from) Bir el-Simira, (6 miles from) Umm Harot, (4 miles from) Bir Hassanin., (6 miles from) Gabra, (about 54 miles to) Omdurman.29 In 1933, the Sudan Survey Department published a map of this region 45-N: Sabaloka (1:250,000 series), showing the Wadi Muqaddam from Umm Ratot to Gabra, in which the following wells appear: Umm Ratot, (5 km from) Umm Rumeila, (20 km from) Bir Aminullah, (17 km from) Bir el-Agami, (11 km from) Gu’erin (“Ko’arin”), (7 km from) Fanqa, (1.5 km from) Umm Khenein, (6.5 km from) Bir es-Simeiha or Bereira, (9 km from) Umm Harot, (6.5 km from) Bir el-Hassaniya, (19 km from) Gabrat el-Gussara, (3.5 km from) Gabrat Sa’id (many wells), (9 km to) Rughewa, (48 km from) Omdurman. These provide an interesting check on the accuracy of our informant. Clearly this track should be considered of major importance for future archaeological survey and exploration.

29

Gleichen 1905: 184–186.

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Road Between Tamtam/Al-Likhrit and Umm Burra The old road between Tamtam and Umm Burra is as wide as the wadi – perhaps 2 km – and there are many tracks. The route is essentially flat, often runs through areas of soft sand, and passes through scrub tondob and acacia trees (many obviously quite old), which seldom grow closer to one another than about 50 m. Along the way one passes low sandy ridges covered here and there naturally with piles of black rocks. Occasionally one sees that some piles of stones are manmade tumulus graves, which appear either singly or in clusters. Since during the rainy season the wadi valley, even now, sometimes fills with water, it is clear that the ancient village sites, like the cemeteries, must have been located on the higher points of land, which, after the late summer rains, would at times have become islands. Random points taken along our route here: 17º03.789’N 31º36.704’E 17º09.147’N 31º36.514’E 17º11.024’N 31º37.961’E 17º13.041’N 31º37.759’E

Tumulus field

Position: 17º09.264’N 31º38.968’E A cemetery of at least nine tumulus graves, 40 to 60 cm high, covered with black stones, on the eastern side of a small hill. These are probably the most prominent graves in a cemetery of many smaller ones.

Single tumulus

Position: 17º11.024’N 31º37.061’E (reading taken about 80 m SW of grave)

Umm Burra (well #1) (“Mother of Cats”)

Position: 17º14.423’N 31º38.414’E Location: 22 km from Tamtam, 16 km from Al-Likhrit, 1 km from Umm Burra #2, 21 km from Hezamiya, 41 km from Al-Meragh, 58.5 km from Umm Tub, 107 km from Korti Diam: 140 cm N–S, 160 cm E–W Depth: “18 men” (about 31 m) The well is located on a rise in the wadi just south and east of a low hill marking the entrance to the valley of El-Hosh. It is one of two wells in close proximity, and both bear the same name. The place is called Umm Burra (“Mother of Cats”) because the people say there used to be many desert “cats” in the Wadi Muqaddam, close to the wells. In March 2000, when we first stopped here, the men present said they all belonged to the Hawawir tribe, and claimed that not more than twenty people (families?) lived between Tamtam and Umm Burra. They said that during the rainy season in August and September, the wadi fills with water and becomes impassable. In October it is still impassable in spots and very muddy.

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It is at this place where the landscape abruptly changes. The road passes just to the west of the well, curves left (west) and winds around a low hill. On the north slope of this hill is the Umm Burra Tumulus Field.

Umm Burra Tumulus Field (Figs. 30, 31) Position: 17º14.915’N 31º38.163–434’E The cemetery is located on the north slope of a low hill, overlooking a wide plain stretching 2.5 km to the north, with Jebel el-Hosh occupying the north end of the valley. Here there are six very large tumuli made of black stones. The largest is about 2 m high and about 12 m in diameter. Immediately east of these large tumuli are stone foundations of four small square buildings (associated offering chapels?) and many rings of stones on the ground suggesting a large cemetery of common graves. Nearby there must be remains of an ancient village as well as an ancient water source (if the two Umm Burra wells were not it).

Fig. 30: The Umm Burra tumulus field looking N to Jebel el-Hosh (center) and Jebel Gombur (at right). The old Wadi Muqaddam road passes between these two hills. Jebel Abu Gad is the pointed peak immediately behind Jebel el-Hosh.

Fig. 31: Satellite photo of the Umm Burra tumulus field (photo Google Earth).

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Umm Burra (well #2)

Position: 17º15.117’N 31º38.509’E Location: 1 km from Umm Burra #1, 16 km from Al-Likhrit, 22 km from Tamtam, 21 km from Hezamiya, 41 km from Al-Meragh, 58.8 km from Umm Tub, 107 km from Korti Circumference of mouth: 140 cm E–W; 130 cm N–S Paving depth: “5–6 men” (8–10 m) Depth: “18 men” (about 31 m) On our initial visit here, we arrived too late in the day to find anyone present, so when Mey Saied returned on November 21 she arrived early enough to find and interview a man named Adam Mohamed, about 35 years old. He said that Umm Burra #2 belongs to the Abdab section of the Hawawir; Umm Burra #1 belongs to the Fekiab section of the Hawawir. Both wells at Umm Burra have water that tastes the same, and he said both wells were “built by the Anaj.” A woman present, however, immediately contradicted him and said “What are you talking about? They were built by real men.” – as though the Anaj never existed and that it was not sensible to believe in them. Those present at the well that day knew no stories about El-Hosh (whose ruins are visible in the distance). They said the hosh (“Enclosure”) is not used by anyone. The land around it cannot be cultivated; animals cannot be grazed there, so no one lives there. It is built on a mountainside, so it is “of no use.” I had asked Mey to ask them who owns the land around El-Hosh, and they said it “belongs to all who pass, but mostly to the Abdab.” Obviously they have no interest in it, and those present knew no folklore connected with it. The people there did not know the story, reported by Abdullah at Al-Meragh, that one of the Umm Burra wells was found to have an inscription on one of the paving stones when it was first discovered by the Hawawir and cleared out. But they did say that there was a third well at Umm Burra, now filled with sand, that was east of Umm Burra #1. Local folklore said it was “50 men deep” (about 85 m). Adam Mohamed said that the guides who formerly travelled the old road to Omdurman are now very old, and “maybe there are no more of them.” One old man who used to know the Omdurman road, he said, was named Osama Wad el-Kares, and he would be able to tell us the distances between the wells. The tribes controlling the road from here to Omdurman, he said, are the Hawawir and the Jawair, after which come the Ghirait/Geriat and the Hassaniya.

El-Hosh (“The Enclosure”) (Figs. 25, 26, 32)

Position: 17º15.774’N 31º38.434’E Location: 25.6 km from Tamtam, 2.5 km from Umm Burra #2, 37.5 km from Al-Meragh, 107 km from Korti This structure has been described at length above. It is a stout semicircular wall, about 160 m wide and about 65 m broad, built on the south side of Jebel el-Hosh. The lower end of the wall has a gate-like opening, here the wall is higher than a man, about 2.5 m, and about the same thickness, and it is built with rough stones well-fitted together and set on end. As the wall rises up the hillside on the east and west it gets lower and narrower, but near the top of the west side wall there is a small secondary gate. On the upper slopes of the hill, the wall gradually ends, but the hill itself, being isolated in the plain, has a summit ideally suited as © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 32: Satellite photo of Jebel el-Hosh showing the great stone wall (“El-Hosh”) on its south slope.

a lookout. We asked the people at the Umm Burra wells if they had any memories of its use, or any traditions about it, but they said they did not. Talbot in 1903 reported that “there is a legend that the Hawawir found a well there when they first came to the country.”30 Today the Hawawir say they have little to do with it since it is not near any good agricultural or grazing land. The impressive size and strength of El-Hosh would be noteworthy in any period, and the site demands careful excavation. It is a surprising monument and proof of a complex social organization, with profound implications for understanding the early settlement history of the whole wadi basin to the north.31

The Road Between El-Hosh and Hezamiya The Wadi Muqaddam road passes between Jebel el-Hosh and Jebel Gombur, and continues along the east side of a chain of small rugged hills, none of which are higher than about 150 m, although their sharp profiles give them the look of real ‘mountains.’ With the exception 30 31

Gleichen 1905: 185 See Fns. 19–23.

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of Jebel el-Hosh and Jebel Gombur, none of these mountains’ names appear on any map. We obtained most of the names from Mohamed Ali, our informant from Al-Meragh, and those he did not know we obtained from the people living near them.

Jebel el-Hosh (“The Enclosure”) (Figs. 30, 32)

Free-standing conical mountain on which the wall known as “El-Hosh” is built (see above). The Wadi Muqaddam runs along the east side of the hill. Further east of the track is the nearly twin hill called Jebel Gombur.

Jebel Gombur (“The Pointed Hat”) (Fig. 30)

(On the old maps, called “Gab Abu Gombur” or “Gombur”, which likens the hill to a type of pointed hat, although today the people say “Gamhur” or even “Ga’ur”.) A free-standing conical hill almost the same size and form as Jebel el-Hosh. The Wadi Muqaddam – and the Korti road – runs between El-Hosh and Gombur, which stand as a kind of gateway to the road leading north.

Jebel Abu Gad (“Possessor of the Hole”) (Fig. 30)

The first of a string of connected hills, covered with black rock. This peak is nearly conical and is distinguished by a tall hollow natural rock tower on its summit that is pierced by a large hole clearly visible from the ground (28 km from Tamtam).

Jebel el-Dineib (“The Little Tail”)

We took its position from the road, east of mountain: on lat. 17º17.564’N. The summit was about 2 km to the west. This is a hill with a high rugged south peak trailing off to a longer low ridge on the north. The higher part is capped by a wall of towering jagged rocks, which evidently remind the nomads of the tufted upper part of a camel’s tail.

Jebel el-Ko’a (“The Elbow”)

We took a latitude reading from the road: 17º19.145’N. This is a large angled mountain behind and north of Jebel el-Dineib.

Jebel Wad Huseil (or “Se’el”) Jebel Id al-Hayar (“Hand of al-Hayar”) We took a position immediately east of it: 17º20.124’N 31º38.390’E (32 km from Tamtam). Jebel Bint Kabja (“Daughter of Kabja”, or, as some say, “Kabjan”) We took a position immediately east of it: 17º21.412’N 31º37.855’E. Jebel Abu Sunoon (“Possessor of Teeth”) A mountain with several jagged rock formations on the summit, which remind the nomads of teeth. East of the mountain is a line of five prominent tumuli, covered with black rocks. Jebel Bint al-Hayar (“Daughter of al-Hayar”) A small mound-like hill just west of and adjacent to the road. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Jubal Hezamiya (“Belt Mountains”)

We took a position immediately east of them: 17º22.686’N 31º33.444’E (38–43 km from Tamtam). The Hezamiya range consists of many peaks, but the Arabs have not given them individual names. This range dominates the western landscape at the Hezamiya well and the old Hezamiya tea station. The latter is now abandoned and falling to ruin since the completion of the new paved road, which has diverted all traffic to the west of the Wadi Muqaddam.

Jubal Hezamiya Tumuli (Fig. 33) Position: 17º24.226’N 31º38.901’E

At about 41 km N of Tamtam, just before one arrives at the Hezamiya well, a series of hills appears on the west side of the track. These appear as ‘foothills’ of the higher and more rugged Jubal Hezamiya. On top of one of these hills are at least nine isolated tumulus graves built of black stones, each grave about 1 m high and 2–4 m in diam. Here and there are other rings of stones, which probably mark lesser graves. These graves differ from those at Hezamiya (see below) in that they are built on isolated high places. Similar isolated tumuli appear on the tops of Nasb el-Ahmar and its northern nameless twin just north of Hezamiya (see below) and can be seen on the tops of low ridges east of the road all along the way between Hezamiya and Al-Meragh. More appear yet again on hilltops along the road between Umm Tub and Al-Kóhara.

Fig. 33: Satellite photo of tumuli on top of a small hill just east of the Jubal Hezamiya (photo Google Earth).

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Hezamiya Well (Fig. 34)

Position: 17º24.081’N 31º39.582’E Location: 43 km from Tamtam, 36 km from Al-Likhrit, 21 km from Umm Burra #2, 20 km from Al-Meragh, 37.5 km from Umm Tub, 86 km from Korti Diam: 180 cm N–S, 150 cm E–W Depth: “18 men” (about 30 m); paving “5 men deep” (about 8.5 m). Several elderly gentlemen were at the well when we arrived, and we spoke with them. The chief spokesman and the best informed was Hassan Hamid Hassan, about 60–65 years old, who said he was born there. They said the well was owned by the Amashin branch of the Hawawir, and that it had been about 75 years since the well was dug out. Their grandfathers, they said, discovered the mouth of the well, and no one had been using it. They found that the mouth had already been lined with stones to a depth of “3 men” (about 5 m), and they increased the height by “2 men.” Before this well was in use they had to get water from Umm Tub and another old well called Umm Junasir, close to Tamtam. The well is attributed to the Anaj, because of the large number of “Anaj tombs” near the well and on the surrounding hilltops. We inquired when the Hawawir settled the area, and where they came from. Hassan Hamid said they came from the north, from the area of Ganetti, and they moved southward gradually. They came here, he said, and found the land unoccupied. This was “13 to 14 generations” back (which would place it probably in the 17th c.). We asked if anything had happened here during the Mahdiyya, and he said there were some battles fought at Umm Tub. The Hawawir fought the Dervishes, and some Hawawir were killed. There were also other skirmishes in the Bayuda at the well called Umm Harot (about 100 km from Omdurman. (On the 1933 Sudan Survey Dept. map 45-N: Sabaloka [1:250,000 series], Umm Harot is about 30 km north of Gabrat Sa’id, where the map notes the presence of an “old Dervish zeriba.”)

Fig. 34: Hezamiya well, with ring of animal troughs.

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We asked Hassan Hamid when he thought El-Hosh had been built, and he said his grandparents had found El-Hosh already built when they arrived here. We inquired how many wells there were on the old road to Omdurman, and he mentioned only three that he would stop at, with a three day distance by camel between each. He said it took ten days to go from Hezamiya to Omdurman. The three wells are: “Bir el-Azemi” (= el-Agami) (named after the founder), Umm Harot (named after its black soil, called harot), and Umm Jol (a jol is a pocket or “cave” at the bottom of a well). When we asked him if there were any wells or Anaj remains on the east side of the Wadi Muqaddam between Al-Meragh and Umm Burra, he said there were none. (But this is surely wrong because one can see numerous single tumuli on the low hilltops to the east along much of the way. They evidently don’t pass this way very much)

Hezamiya Tumulus Field (Fig. 35) Position: 17º24.449’N 31º39.592’E

This cemetery is located just behind (west of) the old Hezamiya tea station on a rise overlooking the buildings, the wadi, and the well (visible in the distance to the southeast). This is one of the most important ancient sites in the wadi and includes at least 49 tumulus graves, some of them larger than any others seen in our survey area. Some of the tumuli are up to 2 m high; others are low; many are covered with black stones; others seem to be made of rings of black stones with piles of white pebbles inside the rings. Most would be called ‘Post-Meroitic,’ but some of them appear to be Christian and others, Muslim. Some of them even have remains of palm fronds emerging from their tops, as if they were relatively recent. The presence of this cemetery, and the abundance of isolated tumuli within a radius of 2 km, reveals that Hezamiya must have been the site of an important, very old settlement and permanent water source. The presence of the antiquities near the well seems to confirm the tradition of the local people that the well also is ancient.

Fig. 35: Hezamiya tumulus field.

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Fig. 36: Satellite photo of the Hezamiya tumuli, showing abandoned remains (right) of the tea stop in use during the 1980s and early 1990s, when all motor traffic passed through the Wadi Muqaddam, prior to the completion of the asphalt highway.

The Road Between Hezamiya and Al-Meragh The road between Hezamiya and Al-Meragh seems one of the least fertile and least supportive of life, with little vegetation in many areas. There are no people living here. Isolated tumuli appear on high knolls on the east bank of the Wadi Muqaddam, but we never explored that side, so it remains unknown to us. The road is very bad along there. Apparently the nomads also don’t travel east of the main track very much, since those we talked to knew little about it. One of the more fertile areas, where the wadi obviously floods, is in the vicinity of Jebel Abu Dakka. Here we noticed the two important cemetery sites Abu Dakka and Umm Mereikh. (None of the mountains below are named on any map.)

Nasb el-Ahmar (“The Red Offspring”) Position: 17°25.177’N 31°39.147’E

A small isolated flat-topped hill about 2 km north of Hezamiya with three tumulus graves built on top; different tracks of the road pass on either side of it.

Nameless Hill (just north of Nasb el-Ahmar, slightly smaller)

A small isolated flat-topped hill, said to be nameless by Mohamed Ali; it is a twin of Nasb el-Ahmar and is about 1 km north of it; it has two tumulus graves built on top.

Jebel Abu Dakka (“Possessor of the Perfume Bath”) (Figs. 37, 38) Position: 17°27.023’N 31°39.770’E

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There is a custom that a married woman perfumes her body with the smoke from a special aromatic wood, somewhat similar to sandalwood. She does this by digging a hole in the ground and placing a clay jar in it. She first puts burning coals in the jar and then she puts the wood on top of them. When the wood begins to smoke, she sits over the hole and the jar and covers herself with a blanket, like a sauna. The hole is called a dakka. The mountain got this name from having a hole somewhere on it or near it that looked like, or was used as, a dakka. The mountain marks two important ancient cemeteries, one on its south side and the other on its north:

Umm Mereikh Tumulus Field (“Mother of Mereikh Trees”) (Fig. 37) Position: 17°27.023’N 31°37.770’E This is very large cemetery on the south side of Jebel Abu Dakka and it is named after the wadi that flows from the west at the base of a mountain called Jebel Umm Mereikh (not to be confused with a mountain of the same name about 45 km to the north). One group of large tumuli is built on the northeast slope of a low ridge overlooking the Wadi Muqaddam. Another cluster of large tumuli lie below, surrounded by many smaller graves. Fifteen large tumuli are visible. Obviously this was the site of another important ancient settlement with a regular water source or well that has not yet been rediscovered by the Hawawir. There are no people living in the area.

Fig. 37: Umm Mereikh tumuli with Jebel Abu Dakka in background (looking N).

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Abu Dakka Tumulus Field (Fig. 38) Position: 17°28.803’N 31°38.494’E A cluster of nine large and seven smaller tumuli northeast of Jebel Abu Dakka, at the west edge of Wadi Muqaddam. These are probably only the most prominent graves in a much larger cemetery. Obviously they, too, must mark the site of an ancient village with a regular water source.

Fig. 38: Abu Dakka tumuli with Jebel Abu Dakka in background (looking SW).

Jubal Zehaf (“The Creepers”) Two long low hills, a southern and a northern, running west of the track and parallel to it, between Jebel Abu Dakka and Jebel el-Meragh. Nasb el-Abid (“The Slave Offspring”) A low sandy hill just south of Jebel el-Meragh on the east side of the track. One branch of the Wadi Muqaddam passes to the east of it, continuing to Umm Tub, while another branch flows to the west, past Jebel el-Meragh, and ends in a cul de sac at Jebel el-Misenih. Jebel el-Meragh (or “Abu Meragh”; also written on old survey maps as “Abu Mera”) (“The

Camel Dust Bath”) A large black mountain on the east side of the track and the Wadi Muqaddam. It’s name derives from the fact that when seen from the west, it has the vague profile of a camel sprawled in the sand. Here there is a well and (in 2000) a poor tea station, with a cluster of two or three small mud buildings (Figs. 1, 15, 39).

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Jebel el-Meragh Tumulus Fields

On the east and southwest flank of Jebel el-Meragh we observed clusters of low tumulus graves marked with black stones. These are identical in form and construction to those at the site of Al-Meragh (Fig. 9).

Al-Meragh Well (Fig. 39)

Position: 17°32.946’N 31°38.665’E Location: 63.1 km from Tamtam, 57 km from Al-Likhrit, 41 km from Umm Burra #2, 20 km from Hezamiya, 17.5 km from Umm Tub, 66 km from Korti Diam: 110 cm E–W x 140 cm N–S; lower down: 130 x 150 cm Depth: “22 men”; measured depth 38.8 m (length of donkey rope); the locals say it is 40–42 m deep. Large stones line it to a depth of about 4 m. Our informants, Abdullah and Mohamed Ali, say the well was built by the Anaj and was dug out only about one or two generations ago, but before they were born. (Mohamed Ali is the older of the two, about 43) They said that their father heard from his parents that there was a well here, and “a group of men came and looked around until they found the mouth of the well, and they found it completely full of sand. They dug it out and found that it was ‘22 men’ deep (about 40 m). They then dug a little farther, cut through a bit of stone, and the water flowed out. When they dug the well out, they added the stones at the top.” An old man, Eis, sitting at the well, said that his “great-grandparents” used to say that when the Anaj traveled through the desert and got thirsty, they would dig a well, take a drink and move on, and that is why there are so many wells in the Bayuda. “The Anaj were very strong people,” he said. We asked them where the name Anaj came from and what it meant, but they said they didn’t know; it was a name handed down from their grandparents. They said that before the Al-Meragh well was opened they always had to travel to Umm Tub (17.5 km distant) for water.

Fig. 39: Al-Meragh well, with Jebel el-Meragh in background.

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Al-Meragh Kushite Townsite and Tumuli (Figs. 1–23)

Position: 17°33.07’N 31°37.56’E Location: 270 km from Omdurman, 63.1 km from Tamtam, 57 km from Al-Likhrit, 41 km from Umm Burra #2, 20 km from Hezamiya, 17.5 km from Umm Tub, 66 km from Korti The site lies on the western sandy upslope of the broad shallow basin of the Wadi Muqaddam. It is 2.5 km west of Jebel el-Meragh and the Al-Meragh well. Its most obvious remains are an architectural complex including a series of important private houses orientated to the cardinal directions. These buildings were all built of mud brick but the most important were given finely cut sandstone doorways and columns with bell-shaped capitals. These apparently stood at the center of a much larger townsite. On either side of the complex are cemeteries of tumulus graves: a single tumulus on the west; and seven on the east. Several hundred meters east of the central site are more tumuli of the same type. The fine cut stone architectural elements suggest that important Kushite officials lived here. The site suggests governmental control over the area, perhaps both to control the local pastoral population and to manage the north-south overland trade traffic. The site seems to have had only a relatively brief occupation, for we observed no evidence of rebuilding in any of the structures. All the buildings, too, appear to have been simultaneously destroyed by fire, probably by enemy action. The estimated date of this event would be the late 5th or early 4th c. BC. The tumuli were built sometime later, directly on top of the decayed mud ruins of some of the lesser buildings in the townsite.

North Meragh Tumulus Field

Position: 17°33.700’N 31°37.710’E Nine clustered tumulus graves and several isolated ones of same type as at Al-Meragh, 3 km north of Al-Meragh site.

The Road Between Al-Meragh and Umm Tub Just south of Jebel el-Meragh, the Wadi Muqaddam forks. The main branch passes east of the mountain, between Jebel el-Meragh and Nasb el-Abid, while the lesser branch and the main road pass west of the mountain. The main road passes beside the well of Al-Meragh, while lesser tracks parallel it up to 2.5 km west of the well and pass directly through the ruins of the ancient townsite at Al-Meragh. As the road continues north, it passes beside the sandy ridge called Berket es-Sika, which lies to the east. Here it forks, with one branch passing over the hill to the northeast. This was the old direct route to Merowe and Karima. The other branch, the Korti road, continues north, along the west side of this hill and the next one, called Jebel Ab’ Jihara (“Father of Holes”), which is notable by the numerous shallow caves or concavities in its sides. On the western horizon there are several long black hills called Nusb (or Jubal) ed-Daba (“Monuments/Mountains of the Hyena”). Just beyond Ab Jihara, about 6 km from Al-Meragh, a mountain called Jebel el-Misenih (“Mountain of the Misenih Grass”) crowds the road from the west, and a small wadi comes down from the same direction. This is called Natilet el-Misenih (“Small Wadi where the Misenit © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Grass Grows”), while another small hill, called Wilad (“Child of”) Ab’ Jihara closes from the east. At this point, the two hills form a continuous sandy ridge, cutting off this branch of the Wadi Muqaddam. The road rises up over the ridge, between the two hills, and drops down on the other side on a wide sandy plain. The main branch of the Wadi Muqaddam then comes into view in the east as a line of sparse vegetation, about 1 km wide. About 5 km beyond, the road passes by Wad el-Ein well, which is on the west side of the wadi. The main well at Umm Tub lies on the east side, about 6 km further on.

Berket es-Sika (“Sandy Hill of the Trail”)

This is a long sandy ridge north of Jebel el-Meragh. The Merowe-Karima road passes between it and Jebel Ab’ Jihara.

Jebel Ab’ Jihara (“Possessor of Holes”) This high stony hill lies beyond Berket es-Sika. The Korti road passes beside its western face, which is full of shallow caves or concavities – “lairs” (jihara). We explored all the accessible caves, thinking that they might contain ancient rock drawings or graffiti, but they did not. This did not necessarily mean that such graffiti never existed. The rock was very worn and exposed to the north winds, and it is possible that ancient scrawls might have been scoured away by sandstorms. We did find more recent markings in the main caves beside the road (Fig. 40) In the larger south cave, about 5 m high and 4 m deep, there was a crude incised drawing of a man, facing right, wearing a kilt, holding a shield with rounded top and pointed bottom with his left arm and a spear with his right. Beside him were symbols that included the special camel brand mark of the Rubab. In the north cave there were more marks of the Rubab on the floor, while beside them and on the walls were variations on the camel brand mark of the Suwarab. The position of the caves is 17°35.212’N 31°39.311’E.

Fig. 40: Rock drawings in the caves on Jebel Ab’ Jihara.

Jebel Wilad Ab’ Jihara (“Child of Ab’ Jihara”)

A small ridge on the north end of Jebel Ab’ Jihara.

Jebel el-Misenih (“Mountain of the Misenih Grass”) Natilet el-Misenih (“Small Wadi where the Misenih Grass Grows”) Position: 17°36.355’N 31°39.663’E

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Natilet el-Misenih Tumuli

Although we did not venture up the natilet, Mohamed Ali said there was a large ancient cemetery there.

Wad el-Ein Well (Umm Tub #1)

Position: 17°37.873’N 31°41.080’E Location: 74.4 km from Tamtam, 68 km from Al-Likhrit, 52 km from Umm Burra #2, 31.4 km from Hezamiya, 11.3 km from Al-Meragh, 6.2 km from Umm Tub, 55 km from Korti Depth: “20 men” (about 40 m); the water is said to be 3 m deep at the bottom. Diam: 130 cm, but it gets wider below the rim before narrowing again. The well mouth is lined with large stone slabs, as at Al-Meragh (some of them up to 60 x 70 cm), and is paved or ringed with stones to a depth of 180 cm. This well was built about 1982 (“six years before the flood [1988]”), and is named after the owner of the land who ordered it to be built. Wad el-Ein, a cousin of Mohamed Ali from Al-Meragh, ran a tea stop here for passing vehicles but had to bring water daily from Umm Tub. Since he needed the well here to maintain his business, he brought some well-diggers from Omdurman, and they built it during different seasons over the course of one year. They worked from the “end of summer” (June–July) up to the rainy season, and then they worked again throughout the winter. It took longer to build than other wells “because there was so much stone.” Wad el-Ein died several years previously, leaving the tea stop to his sons, Abdullahi and Mohamed, teenage boys, who were still there in 2000. Their mother was not present during the many times we visited, so she, too, is presumably deceased. The boys sold tea to passers-by, but their primary service was that they baked fresh bread daily and sold that locally and to passing cars, buses, and lorries (probably never more than 10–15 vehicles per day, before the completion of the asphalt road). When we passed by, they were keeping two baby gazelles they had been given by a passing motorist and were feeding them with goats’ milk. The family belongs to the Habassab branch of the Hawawir, and they are cousins to the people of Al-Meragh. The two boys told us that during the rainy season, people drink the water in the wadi, so they don’t use the wells as much. Obviously more water collects in the wells at that time. They insisted that the rains themselves don’t affect the water level in the wells. They said water in the wadi stands about two months after the rains, which begin in August and September, and the wadi fills with water. It disappears by November. Every few years it floods and causes damage. In 1988 there was a flood that stretched all the way to Omdurman, and at Al-Meragh the buildings around the well were destroyed. After the floods the soil in the wadi is moist, so people plant dhourra, sorghum, watermelons, and cucumbers. It takes about two months for these plants to ripen. The people can actually put in two crops and sell them. The year 2000, however, was a drought year. No rain fell, so there were no crops. In such times they have to buy the special sorghum feed for the animals, and they water them exclusively with water from the wells. If it gets worse, they must take the animals to relatives near the river and buy grass. Sometimes the water level in the well gets low because so many animals need water, and it fills with sand. They clean out the wells in April and July (after the sandstorms). March and April have the worst weather. April through August is very hot. “Between now (November) and January” the winds pick up speed. This is the sandstorm called “Umm Shir”. It starts © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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about 7:00 AM and goes until 1:00 PM almost on a daily basis. Umm Shir is an old Arab name having to do with the fact that these are very cold winds.

Wad el-Ein Tumuli

We were told that here are old cemeteries to the northwest of the well on the low hills overlooking the Umm Tub valley. Several isolated tumuli are also visible.

Umm Tub Well (Umm Tub #2) (Fig. 41)

Position: 17°40.014’N 31°42.128’E Location: 80 km from Tamtam, 74 km from Al-Likhrit, 46 km from Umm Burra #2, 37.5 km from Hezamiya, 17.5 km from Al-Meragh, 6 km from Wad el-Ein, 27.5 km from Umm Jéggara, 40.5 km from Al-Kóhara, 48.5 km from Korti Diam: 230 cm, but just below the lip it is 250–260 cm. The well has the widest mouth of any in the area, and the people complain that it is too wide. They have tried to reduce the width with logs laid across the edges

The well is called Umm Tub (“Mother of Paving”) because is it lined with stones to a depth of “10 men” (about 17 m), a feature not known in any other well. The well itself is “23 men” deep (about 39 m), with a water depth of “1 man.” The local people say that their “greatgrandparents or farther back” found it and cleaned it out, and it has been used ever since. According to a man named Abdullah, it was built originally by the Anaj: “The ancestors found the well and they saw the Anaj cemeteries and piles of stones here, so they dug around here and found the well. But we don’t know much about the Anaj. They say that an Anaj would sit with one foot behind his knee and scoop out the dirt with his right hand until he found water.

Fig. 41: Umm Tub well.

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They were very tall men.” In the old days, they said, they pulled the buckets up by hand and used sheepskin water containers. A few people still do. People come from 7 to 10 km away to get water at Umm Tub. In the winter months people bring their animals to the well every 4 to 5 days, but in the summer months it is every 2 to 3 days. Umm Tub village (in 2000) consisted of 8 mud brick houses and several rakubas on the east side of the wadi. These houses were built on the edge of a large field of ancient tumuli, showing that the same site was anciently occupied as a village and that there was a good water source here (perhaps the well now in use). The presence of the tumuli seems to support the veracity of the local tradition that the well is ancient. In this regard, the site is very similar to Umm Burra, Hezamiya, and Al-Meragh, all of which have wells attributed to the Anaj as well as important ancient remains in the immediate vicinity.

Umm Tub Tumulus Field (Figs. 42, 43) Position: 17°40.624’N 31°42.635’E There are 13 tumuli on the N edge of the village and many more behind the village. Some of these are 2 m high and massive. Many more ordinary graves may lie here as well. On the west side of the village, toward the wadi, there are a couple of unusual tumuli: low circular mounds ringed by upright stones. There are also isolated tumuli visible on hilltops north of Umm Tub.

The Road Between Umm Tub and Umm Jéggara Jebel Zehaf (“Crawler”)

Appears on the west shortly after Umm Tub.

Fig. 42: Umm Tub tumuli with village and well in background.

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Umm Hilaf (“Mother of Hilaf Grass”) Two long peaks north of Jebel Zehaf, to the west of the road. The northern one is said by Mohamed Ali to have ancient remains on its top. “Things built and plastered,” as he said. We had hoped to investigate this, but we ran out of time. Jebel Umm Bilein (or El-Getti)

Mohamed Ali explained the name: “When stones form together in a particular shape that collects water, it is called a bilein. There is a structure like this at the foot of the mountain that fills up during the rainy season and they use it to water animals and crops.” Bilein is also called El-Getti, which means a “water-catching place.” It sounds like there is a hafir here that is still used, and bilein is what the nomads call a hafir.

Fig. 43: Satellite photo of Umm Tub tumuli with village buildings at lower left (photo Google Earth).

Jubal Mereikh (“Mountains of the Mereikh Trees”)

Named after a tree whose wood the nomads use to make their tooth brushes. These hills form a kind of amphitheatre on the west and north, and complete the semicircle before the road with Jebel Hetetin in the east. The valley on the south side of the hills is called Um Haut/Hut, which becomes a catch-basin during the flood season.

Umm Haut (“Mother of Cisterns”)

A valley that fills with water when the Wadi Muqaddam floods. This name was recorded by Talbot in 1903 (see Fn. 13). Over the years the name has become misunderstood by at least some of the nomads (like our informant), who call it Umm Hut (“Mother of Fish”). Mohamed Ali informed us that “sometimes the water is so deep here that people see fish.” (Note that the Arabic word Al-Hut literally means “whale,” but the northern landlocked Sudanese typically use this word to mean simply “fish.” © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Jebel el-Hetetin (“Mountain of Salt”)

It has natural salt deposits in it, which the people procure for their animals.

Jebel Umm Mereikh (“Mother of the Mereikh Tree”)

There is a large cave in its side in which are scratched more tribal brand marks and symbols of the Habassab and Suwarab. (Note: this mountain bears the same name as another mountain about 45 km south of here, and the two should not be confused.)

Jebel Abu Sideir (or “Sudeir”: Father of the Sideir Tree”) Tumuli Between Umm Tub and Umm Jéggara

There are a number of isolated tumuli on the tops of the hills along the road. Some appear just north of Umm Tub on the east side of the road; another appears on top of a hill 9 km north of Umm Tub and to the west of the road. 8 km further north more isolated tumuli appear on the west side of the road between Jebel Umm Mereikh and Jebel Abu Sideir.

Umm Jéggara Well (“Mother of Rats”), also called Adat Matar (“Gives Rain”) (Fig. 44) Position: 17°52.140’N 31°40.469’E Location: 108 km from Tamtam, 102 km from Al-Likhrit, 86 km from Umm Burra #2, 65 km from Hezamiya, 45 km from Al-Meragh, 28.5 km from Umm Tub, 13 km from AlKóhara, 11 km from Korti Diam: 150 cm E–W; 170 cm N–S; 200 cm under top stones. The rim of the well is lined with stones, as usual, but over the stones is a layer of cement bearing the Suwarab brand mark. The people there said it was cemented “last summer” (1999). Depth: “22 men” (or about 38 m), with a water depth at the bottom of “one man” and a paving depth at the top of “6 or 7 men” (about 10 to 12 m).

Fig. 44: Umm Jeggara well.

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We were told here that the Suwarab and the Habassab (= Hawawir) intermarry, but the child takes the tribal identity of the father. A man there, who was about 50, said that the well was here “when I was born.” He said it was dug out in his “father’s time.” The Nile is one day’s walk from here. The local people report Anaj remains 2 to 3 km to the south of the well. They also say there is a cemetery on the north side of Jebel Abu Sideir. Just north of the well there is also a large tumulus visible on top of Berket Umm Jéggara. (Berket means small sand-covered mountain). The well is presently known as Umm Jéggara (“Mother of Rats”), although when Talbot surveyed this area in 1903, it seems to have existed with the name Adat Matar (“Gives Rain”). The well acquired its present name because “it has rats, and sometimes they fall in and drown.” The rats “come up sometimes in the gerrycans” (used to pull up the water). The water is very bad, “bitter.” It is used only for the animals. The local people try to get their own drinking water from passing vehicles. It is a very desolate place, with few people but many goats.

The Road Between Umm Jéggara and Korti 3 km beyond Umm Jéggara the road curves right, around the sandy hill (berket) of the same name, and soon passes another sand-covered mountain, which Mohamed Ali called Berket Gireid (on the maps it seems to be called Jebel el-Fuweika).

Berket Gireid (Jebel el-Fuweika) (Fig. 44)

A sandy mountain on the west side of the road. Each of its ridges has a single tumulus on top. On the eastern slope of this hill there begins another tumulus field that continues off and on for about 3 km.

Gireid-Fuweika Tumulus field (Fig. 45) Numerous tumulus graves visible in this area between 15 and 18 km south of the Nile at Korti. Al-Kóhara Well (“The Clump”) (Fig. 46)

Position: 17°57.927’N 31°37.527’E Location: 126 km from Tamtam, 120 km from Al-Likhrit, 104 km from Umm Burra #2, 83 km from Hezamiya, 58 km from Al-Meragh, 28.5 km from Umm Tub, 13 km from Umm Jéggara, 8 km from Korti Diam: 170 cm; pavement goes down “4 to 5 men” (it appears to be lined with stones as far down as one can see) The well is on a slight rise in the middle of the wadi, in a wide desert plain. There are no houses in sight, and the well was deserted when we arrived one late afternoon. Mohamed Ali says the people who use the well live in the hills 5 to 10 km distant. They don’t live around it because of the danger of flooding in the rainy season. Since Mohamed Ali has visited the well many times and is very familiar with it, he could say with assurance that it was “18 to 19 men deep” (about 32 m) and that the water is “sweet’ and is used by the people for drinking. A kóhara is a “clump,” and the name recalls that there was once a clump of trees nearby. The river is about 0.5 hour’s drive from here, or about a three hour walk. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 45: Gireid-Fuweika tumulus field.

Fig. 46: Al-Kóhara well.

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Korti/Krtn/Usli

Position: 18°05.664’N 31°33.668’E Location: 337 km from Omdurman, 129 km to Tamtam, 123 from Al-Likhrit, 107 km from Umm Burra #2, 86 km from Hezamiya, 66 km from Al-Meragh, 48.5 km from Umm Tub, 21 km from Umm Jeggara, 8 km from Al-Kóhara Korti is the terminus of the Wadi Muqaddam. Traditionally it has been linked with the ancient town called Krtn or K3rtn of the Napatan texts. In the Year 1–2 Kawa Stela of Irike-Amanote, the king states that he departed Napata soon after his coronation and halted at Krtn, where he had a palace. On the eighth day after his arrival, the town was attacked by the “western desert dwellers called Meded (Mdd),” who fled when they saw that the king was there. The king’s troops pursued them and gave battle. In the stela of Harsiotef, the king records that in his third, fifth, and sixth regnal years he also fought against the Meded, attacking several of their towns, and capturing much livestock, which surely lay south on the Wadi Muqaddam. The recent discovery of a Napatan palace at Usli, 10 km upstream from Korti, by the Czech team under Barta, Suková, and Brina would seem to have pinpointed the actual location of Krtn.

Final Note The names of the mountains and places given here are those provided by the local people with whom we spoke along the way. Most of the names of places and mountains south of Al-Meragh we heard from more than one individual. Most of the names of the sites north of Al-Meragh, however, we received only from Mohamed Ali, our neighbor at Al-Meragh, who travelled with us to Korti one day to act as our informant. Unfortunately, we were unable to discuss with anyone else the names he provided, so they should not be considered as certain or ‘universal’.

Bibliography Arkell, A. J. 1961 A History of the Sudan from the Earliest Times to 1821. London. Arnold, F. 2001 s.v. Houses. In: Redford, D. B. (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 2. Oxford, 122–127. Barta, M., Suková, L. & Brina, V. 2013 The Latest Explorations at Usli, Northern Province. In: Sudan & Nubia 17, 66–69. Crabitès, P. 1938 Americans in the Egyptian Army. London. Edmonds, J. M. 1940 Some Stone-Walled Enclosures in Dar Hawawir. In: Sudan Notes and Records 23, 294–303.

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Eide, T., Hägg, T., Pierce, R. H. & Török, L. (eds.) 1996 Fontes Historiae Nubiorum. Textual Sources for the History of the Middle Nile Region between the Eigth Cent. BC and the Sixth Cent. AD. Vol. II: From the Mid-Fifth to the First Cent. BC. Bergen. 1998 Fontes Historiae Nubiorum. Textual Sources for the History of the Middle Nile Region between the Eigth Cent. BC and the Sixth Cent. AD. Vol. III: From the First to the Sixth Cent. AD. Bergen. Fuller, D. Q. 1998 Palaeoecology of the Wadi Muqaddam: A Preliminary Report on the Significance of the Plant and Animal Remains. In: Sudan & Nubia 2, 52–60. Gleichen, C. 1905 The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. A Compendium Prepared by Officers of the Sudan. Vol. II: Routes. London. Hinkel, F. W. 1977 The Archaeological Map of the Sudan. A Guide to its Use and Explanation of its Principles. Berlin. Jesse, F. 2013 Far from the Nile. The Gala Abu Ahmed Fortress in Lower Wadi Howar (Northern Sudan). In: Jesse, F. & Vogel, C. (eds.), The Power of Walls. Fortifications in Ancient Northwestern Africa. Colloquium Africanum 5. Köln, 321–352. 2014 On the Borders of Kushite Power. The GalaAbuAhmed Fortress in Lower Wadi Howar, Northern Sudan. In: Anderson, J. R. & Welsby, D. A. (eds.), The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1. Leuven, 545–555. Jesse, F. & Vogel, C. (eds.) 2013 The Power of Walls. Fortifications in Ancient Northwestern Africa. Colloquium Africanum 5. Köln. Kendall, T. 2000 Archaeological Explorations in the Bayuda Desert:Al-Meragh and the Wadi Muqaddam between Tamtam and Korti. Report of the NCAM Bayuda Expedition. Khartoum. 2001 Archaeological Explorations in the Bayuda Desert. 1999-2000 Seasons, Preliminary Report I, Pt. 1: Al-Meragh and the Wadi Muqaddam between Tamtam and Korti. The NCAM Bayuda Expedition. Khartoum. 2006–2007 Evidence for a Napatan Occupation of the Wadi Muqaddam:Al-Meragh in the Bayuda Desert (1999–2000). In: Gratien, B. (ed.), Mélanges offerts à Francis Geus. Cahier de Recherche de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d'Egyptologie de Lille 26, 197–204. Liszka, K. 2017 Egyptian or Nubian? Dry Stone Architecture at Wadi-el-Hudi, Wadi es-Sebua, and the Eastern Desert. In: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 103, 35–51.

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Macadam, M. F. L. 1949 The Temples of Kawa I: The Inscriptions. London. Mallinson, M. 1997 Preliminary Report: SARS Survey from Omdurman to Gabolab 1997. In: Sudan & Nubia 1, 30–33. 1998 SARS Survey from Omdurman to Gabolab 1997: The Survey. In: Sudan & Nubia 2, 42–45. Smith, L. M. V. 1998 Pottery and Small Finds. In: Sudan & Nubia 2, 45–52. Török, L. 1997 The Kingdom of Kush. Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization. Handbuch der Orientalistik 1.31. Leiden.

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The Debba-Dam Archaeological Survey Project (DDASP), QSAP : Two Seasons (2013–2014 and 2014–2015) Fawzi Hassan Bakhiet

Abstract In the seasons of 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 of the Debba-Dam Archaeological Project (DDASP), the work was divided into three tasks: survey, excavation and restoration. We investigated an area of 77 km starting from Ed-Debba up to Ambukol. During this survey, over 126 new archaeological sites were discovered, ranging in date from the Neolithic to the Islamic periods. An ethnographic survey was also conducted to study oral history, place names and popular beliefs between Ed-Debba and Hussienarti. Four sites have been partly excavated, dating to the Neolithic, Post-Meroitic, Christian and Islamic periods. The reconstruction of the Ganati church columns with their bases and capitals was the main and most important issue during these two seasons. Keywords: DDASP, QSAP, Survey, Mansourkati, Hittana, Et-Tameer, Ganati Church, Housh Mar

1. Introduction The NCAM mission of the Debba-Dam Archaeological Survey Project sponsored by the Qatar Sudan Archaeological Project focused on an area of in total 195 km along the left bank of the Nile between the dam site at the Fourth Cataract and the town of Ed-Debba downstream, extending to a maximum of 5 km into the desert.1 This area is historically very important because it includes important monumental Napatan period sites like SanamAbu Dom, Nuri, El-Kurru and Jebel Barkal. Compared to the right bank of the Nile, the left bank has received less attention in terms of archaeological work. Limited survey and excavation were conducted by the Combined Prehistoric Expedition, directed by Joel Shiner, between Ed-Debba and Korti.2 Another project was undertaken by a joint NCAM and SFDAS team between 2001 and 20083 in an area endangered by the construction of the Merowe Dam (resettlement area at New Amri), under the framework of the Merowe Dam Archaeological Salvage Project (MDASP). This region is still threatened by agricultural projects, construction of houses and gold mining activities. The aim of this project is to survey the area and to undertake excavations and restorations to complete the archaeological map of the Sudan.

1 2 3

Bashir 2014; Bakhiet 2015. Zurawski 2003: 79. Geus & Lecointe 2003.

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2. Survey A distance of 77 km was investigated, starting from Ed-Debba up to the village of Ambukol (Fig. 1). During this survey, more than 126 new archaeological sites were discovered, ranging in date from the Neolithic to the Islamic periods (see Tab. 1). The discovered sites represent different types of burials, which comprise varied forms from isolated mounds to tumuli fields. These contain tumuli of the Kushite and Post-Meroitic periods. Also, some settlement sites were recorded, which contain different types of forts with archaeological material scattered on the surface.

Tab. 1:

Chronological distribution of sites.

An ethnographical survey was also conducted to study oral history, place names and popular beliefs between Ed-Debba to Hussienarti.

3. Excavations Five sites were partly excavated, dating to the Neolithic, Post-Meroitic, Christian and Islamic periods.

3.1 Site DS 2: Mansourkati The site is an extensive cemetery consisting of round gravel mounds. 88 could be counted and mapped. The whole cemetery occupies an area of 460 x 200 m. It is located north of Mansourkati village, about 250 m south of the left bank of the Nile, close to the Islamic cemetery part of which encroaches on the archaeological site (Fig. 2). The mounds are distributed along a possibly old Nile terrace, running E-W. The site was discovered by the Sudanese Antiquities Service at the beginning of the 1960. These mounds have been found being subject to continuous risks, as the heights of several of them were and are reduced by both natural and human forces. The gradual expansion of the Islamic cemetery immediately to the north and the urban expansion in the south, in addition to the crossing of many roads as well as the gavelquarrying of the villagers affect the gradual destruction of the site. Archaeologically, the site is worth to be excavated and studied to obtain more information about burial traditions of this period, as no other large cemeteries of the Late and Post-Meroitic period exist in this area. A total of 25 graves were excavated during the two seasons. The strategy of work was to first rescue the most threatened mounds in the cemetery: those bordering the Islamic cemetery and the ones endangered by roads and tracks. Generally, the excavation method executed was to plot a square around the mound and to lay out a trench crossing the mound, except for the first excavated tomb (T1), which was divided into 4 quarters, to have an initial idea about the burial shaft position. In case of quite small mounds, the whole mound should be excavated. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 1:

Distribution of sites discovered during seasons 2013–2014 and 2014–2015.

Debba-Dam Archaeological Survey Project

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Distribution of tombs excavated at Mansourkati cemetery DS 2 in seasons 2013–2014 and 2014–2015.

Fawzi Hassan Bakhiet

Fig. 2:

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Human skeleton in contracted position, Mansourkati cemetery DS2.

Only three out of all excavated tombs were found intact (T1, T19 and T24), three were partially (T80, T79 and T81) and the rest were completely plundered. A ring of quartz pebbles of 0.1– 0.2 m in diameter surrounded the outer edge of some tomb shafts. Some shafts were also surrounded by black granite stones, like at T35. The geological formation of the ground – as revealed by the excavated tomb sections – is composed of repeated layers of unconsolidated gravels, sands and clays. Their nature is dry and friable, which makes it difficult in many cases to clean the burial pit edges safely without causing damage. The thickness of this formation, which rests on alluvium in which the burial pit is usually cut, is more than 2 m. The amount of gravel decreases northward where a palaeochannel of the Nile is traceable and the material becomes siltier in its composition. The fill of the graves was composed of gravel and sand, the amount of gravel decreasing with depth. The preservation of the burials was generally good, although some skeletons were discovered incomplete (Fig. 3) as a result of looting in antiquity. The age estimation showed that the number of middle-age adult females was higher than of young adult females. The young adult females make up 35.8 % of the observed population compared to the middle-age adult females at 42.9 %. The males range between adolescents, young adults and middle adults.

3.2 Site DS 74: Hittana Fortress The Hittana Fortress site is located on the left bank of the Nile, between the village of Hussienarti and the water well of the El-Kulud Agricultural Scheme. The maximum overall dimension of the fort is approximately 60 m (N–S) x 70 m (W–E). The perimeter walls have a maximum extant height of 3 m with a maximum thickness at the top of 2.10 m and the bottom © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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is 2.20 m. They consist of stacked pieces of local gneissic bedrock with a mud top. The extant stone portions of the walls suggest that they were originally augmented by mud brick. There are at least three gates with the main entrance on the southern side of the fort. There are three towers, one is square in shape in the southern part, while the others are egg shaped and located at the north-western and south-eastern corner respectively. In addition, it appears that there are also foundations of several rooms, which are built with mud brick and some with stone and gallous. A deep square structure has been cut into the north end of a stone outcrop facing the Nile (Fig. 4). The geographical position is well suited for a defensive structure. Oral tradition suggests that the fort was built before the battle at Korti in 1821.

Fig. 4:

Kite overview of Hittana Fort DS 74.

A survey grid was laid out over the entire site. The 2014–2015 season’s excavations began on the eastern wall, the main tower and the deep square structure on the northern part (Fig. 5). The site was partly excavated by the NCAM team.4 A square of 10 x 10 m was investigated around the south-eastern tower, which is covered by collapsed stones, to a depth of 300 mm. Some restoration and consolidation work was undertaken at the rectangular tower using lime mortar to save and maintain its general shape and to prevent further damage. Also, a guard was appointed this season.5 First, the surface of the laid out square was cleaned, and then the restoration and consolidation using lime mortar on the south-east elevation of the tower was completed. The south-west corner was extensively damaged, thus it is in the process of restoration (Fig. 6). A photograph taken in 19756 was acquired which shows that more of the tower existed at that time (Fig. 5). 4 5 6

The team consited of the following members: Yasin M. Saeed (surveyor), Fawzi Hassan Bakhiet (field director), Habab Idriss, Amal Hassan, Shaza Abdellah (student), Sayed Bashir (student), Rihab Ismaeel (student), Galal Al-Amin (driver), Nasir Saad (driver) and Manahil Mostafa (cook). The site is well known by the village men and children who use it as a tourist area during their festivals. Jamal El-Sheikh Abd Elhafeez archives. He is interested in history and ethnography and hails from Hussienarti.

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Fig. 5:

Deep square structure from the top, Hittana Fort DS 74.

Fig. 6:

Square tower after restoration, Hittana Fort DS74.

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Fig. 7:

Cemetery DS 100 from the top.

Fig. 8:

Descent of DS 100 / T3.

Fig. 9:

Remains of bones with color in DS 100 / T3.

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3.3 Site DS 100: Et-Tameer The Et-Tameer site is situated on the left bank of the Nile north of the ancient town of Sanam Abu Dom near the residential governmental area close to the new Karima-Merowe bridge. The site contains a cemetery discovered by chance when a new development project associated with the construction of the Merowe Dam started (Fig. 7). Four tombs were excavated during two seasons by Murtada Bushara.7 A unique, possibly royal tomb shares features with Kashta’s tomb Ku. 8 and Piye’s tomb Ku. 17 at El-Kurru, amongst which is a roofed burial chamber with a corbelled vault built of dressed sandstone.8 The work on this cemetery was incorporated into the present project, because it is located within the project zone (Fig. 8). The NCAM team focused its excavation on rescuing three endangered tombs (Fig. 9). Fig. 10: Cup of red pottery from DS 100 / T4. – Tomb DS 100 / T2: located in the northern part, consists of five chambers, three of them oriented east-west. – Tomb DS 100 / T3: located in the centre, oriented east-west, consists of a rectangular descendary with eight steps leading to a vaulted chamber oriented east-west; a disturbed skeleton was found placed in a painted coffin, oriented east-west. – Tomb DS 100 / T4: three chambers, two oriented east-west, and the third oriented northsouth; the skeleton was laying on its back within a painted coffin (Fig. 10).

3.4 Site DS7: Ganati Church The work at Ganati continued in season 2014–2015 by an NCAM team,9 with the aim of excavating the area around the seven granite church columns (Fig. 11). Each column measures between 2.5–2.6 m in length and has a diameter of 0.5–0.86 m. Column F in the southern area is missing. The column bases were all found in situ and laid out in the design of a cross with two lines of three columns from west to east. One column was discovered on the north side and one on the south side. One capital is missing (column C). This was most probably removed into a local house or is buried within the Islamic cemetery. The cemetery extends to the west and north-west of the church, where there are Christian red bricks and remains of stone architecture. 7 8 9

Bushara 2014: 635–639. Bushara 2014. El-Ghazafi Yousif (field director), Inaam Abdelrahman, Al-Taher Adam El-Nour, Sawsan Hussien (student), Galal Al-Amin (driver), Nasir Saad (driver), Manahil Mostafa (cook).

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Fig. 11: Kite photo of the site Ganati DS7 (photo B. Zurawski).

The main foci of the excavation of season 2014–2015 were the following: a) to disengage all columns and capitals; b) to prepare the site to re-erect them; c) to excavate and investigate three squares (5 x 5 m) in different areas to a depth of 0.5 m; d) to dig three test pits around the base to reach the last layer; e) to ensure that the bases could withstand the weight of the re-erect columns and capitals. The final phase of site work, conducted by an NCAM team10 in collaboration with the British Museum,11 was the restoration of all the columns and capitals (Fig. 12). These were arranged in accordance with their related serial numbers and their relevant bases, focusing on the diameters of three sections. One column and two capitals are missing, and the northern 10 11

El-Gazafi Yousif, Fawzi Hassan Bakhiet, Osman Alfadel (restorer), Sofyan Mohamed (restorer), Galal Al-Amin (driver), Gasim Hassan (photographer), Motaz Abdeldaim (cook) and Paul Sanitino (Hilti technician). Tracey Sweek, stone conservator (British Museum, London).

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Fig. 12: Re-erecting the columns at Ganati DS7.

column had been broken into two fragments. A mobile crane, a Hilti coring drill DD EC1, stainless steel dowels and the Hilti Hit adhesive system RE 500 were used in the re-assembly of the columns. In the reconstruction of the columns stainless steel dowels were used. These were of a high quality grade (316) and the length of each dowel was 380 mm with a diameter of 20 mm. This work was completed successfully with all the columns now standing. The small fissures and joins between the bases, columns and capitals were capped and filled with mortar (Fig. 13). A documentary film recorded all phases of the site work during the two seasons and it was and will be presented on local and international television.

Fig. 13: Ganati DS7 after its complete restoration in season 2014–2015.

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Pottery Studies More than 701 pottery sherds were studied which represent different types and sizes. The pottery report states that 86 pieces are from wheel-made vessels whose clay matrix varies from medium, semi-medium and semi-fine. 21 pieces are hand-made from semi-coarse and coarse material such as a cooking pot. This also indicates that there was a place for cooking. Some objects, like rims, bases and decorated sherds are comparable with finds from the Dongola reach. From the study of the sherds, some objects could be identified. There are 10 vessels varying in size (small to medium), one of them was deep incised. Also some bowls, cups and qadus could be identified. Some samples have already been sent to the lab for more information by C14 (see Fig. 14).

Fig. 14: Some examples of pottery from site DS 7.

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3.5 Site DS 1: Housh Mar A team12 from NCAM and the University of Khartoum conducted an archaeological mapping and excavation campaign at Housh Mar, a large complex site (350 x 160 m) (Fig. 15), which is comprised of gallous and mud-brick buildings. The site is situated on the left bank of the Nile between Figeernkuti and Mansourkati close to farmland. The site was completely covered by more than 5 m of sand in the north-eastern part and has become a rubbish area for the two neighbouring villages. The far western structures still stand showing evidence of four rooms with a front veranda at the eastern side. In front of it are the remains of two lines of mud-brick columns that once supported a roof (Fig. 16).

Fig. 15: Plan of Housh Mar DS1 during season 2014–2015.

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Intisar Soghayroun, Al-Taher Adam El-Nour, Amal Hassan, Magdi Awad (photographer), Sawsan Hussien (student), Salah Mohamed (driver), Nasir Saad (driver) and Manahil Mostafa (cook).

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Fig. 16: Kite photo of the mud brick structure Housh Mar DS 1.

Fig. 17: Remains of the north-eastern mud brick structure of Housh Mar DS 1.

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There are more structures to the south, east and south-east of the western complex. Not far from its eastern boundary, there are recently erected small nomadic structures with animal enclosures for goats and camels. Three mound graves were also noted in the western area. According to local information, the western part was a suq (market) area and the eastern part was a Hoshin Mar (Bushara complex). Some stories indicate that the name Housh Mar is derived from Housh Om Mar, which means “big yard” in the Dongolawi language. The residential area belonged to Bishara Gaili during the Funj Period (1504–1821). Bishara Gaili was known as Bishara, “The Westerner”. Another story indicates that the linguistic origin of the name Housh Mar is local Nubian Houshen Mar. We noted that these accounts agree on the name of Housh Mar as originating in the Dongolawi language. Surface cleaning at the western part confirmed the function of the site: the western part was a market and the eastern side was a settlement area. A map was devised and completed to determine the boundaries of the site. In addition, we tried to understand the spatial distribution of the different units as well as their ground plans. The distribution of potsherds and other objects on the surface indicate that the site has been used during both the Christian and Islamic period. A guard has now been appointed, a fence has been put up facing the direction of the village and five signs have been erected on different sides of the site (Fig. 17).

Bibliography Bakhiet, F. H. 2015 QSAP Dam-Debba Archaeological Survey Project (DDASP). Preliminary Results of the Second Season. In: Sudan & Nubia 19, 149–160. Bashir, M. S. 2014 QSAP Dam-Debba Archaeological Survey Project (DDASP). Preliminary Report on the NCAM Mission’s First Season, 2013–2014. In: Sudan & Nubia 18, 156–162. Bushara, M. M. 2014 The Possible Royal Tomb of Et-Tameer Merowe. In: Anderson, J. R. & Welsby, D. A. (eds). The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceeding of the 12th International Conference for the Nubian Studies. British Museum Publication on Egypt and Sudan 1. Leuven 2014, 635–639. Geus, F. & Lecointe Y. 2003 Survey and Excavation at el-Multaga, a Resettlement Area related to the Construction of the Merowe Dam: preliminary results. In: Sudan & Nubia 7, 33–39. Zurawski, B. (ed) 2003 Survey and Excavations between Old Dongola and Ez-Zuma. Southern Dongola Reach Survey I. Nubia II. Warsaw 2003.

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The Exploration of the Coronation Road of Meroe’s Kings Between Meroe and Jebel Barkal Madani Mohamed Abualfath Madani Dedication: To my father’s soul To my kind mother To my wife To my sons Mohamed and Abdalwahab To my sister and brothers To those who helped me (Sabir, Alaamir, Algallap, my brother Addalla, Ata, Omer Alameen)

Abstract The study will first deal with the coronation road of Meroitic kings, the exploration efforts with respect to the road, and with archaeological activities in the Bayuda desert. Secondly, the study will deal with the historic city of Berber (East Bayuda Province) focusing on its location and why the Sudanese call Berber a historic city. It will be shown that they believe that many Sudanese traditions originated in this city. Many old roads cross it leading to the ports of the Red Sea and to Egypt as well as to Central West Sudan and West Africa. The old lines of river navigation also link areas which are located south of Berber with Khartoum city. Antiquities discovered in the Berber region indicate that the area was part of the Kushite kingdom. Thirdly, the study will deal with Jadallah village (West Berber City) under the topics location and population. There is evidence showing that the village is an ancient settlement: customs and traditions, an ancient irrigation channel, as well as ancient tombs and modern offering rituals, and a ‘Treasure Castle’. Fourthly, the study will deal with Nuri. Fifth, the study will take the forgotten road between Jadallah village and Nuri into account with regard to the following aspects: road names, starting points of the road and road features (such as an old spring in Jadallah village that drains into the Nile and indicates the existence of water sources in the Bayuda desert), as well as the reduction of the distance between Jadallah to Nuri, avoiding the area between the 4th and 5th Cataracts. There are road signs that help not to lose the way. The road passes by places that we heard a lot of oral narratives about (e.g. Wadi Abu Hareeg, a place for smelting and production of iron) and Wadi Umm Pharaoh. Finally, the results and the findings are summarized and recommendations are given. Keywords: Coronation Road, Berber-Region, Village of Jadallah, Nuri, Bayuda

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Fig. 1:

Madani Mohamed Abualfath Madani

The Bayuda (photo M. Madani).

1.1 Introduction Archaeological discoveries are very important, especially in Sudan, which is renowned for the existence of important ancient civilizations. Sudan, however, still needs more archaeological exploration to obtain further information about those civilizations in order to know how their people were living. Sudan is an extensive field for study and exploration, more than 40 archaeological missions are working in the field. This study is based on a new exploration of the Bayuda desert road that connected Jebel Barkal and Meroe (the coronation road of Meroe’s kings). This study assumes that the coronation procession passed the Nile from the royal city of Meroe to Jadallah village and went further across the Bayuda desert to Nuri, with a final crossing of the Nile at Jebel Barkal. The result of this study verifies the course of this road across the Bayuda desert. I found evidence proving the assumptions. In addition, the archaeological exploration brings many benefits for touristic activities and exhibitions.

1.2 The Study Problem The study problem is to look for the road that connected Begrawiya and the holy mountain Jebel Barkal which is supposedly the road the Meroitic kings used in their coronation ritual. In spite of inscriptions proving this journey and archaeologists being aware of the fact that the road crossed the Bayuda desert, it is still not known where the road went exactly, so the road became a conundrum to archaeologists and researchers. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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1.3 The Hypotheses Scholars put forward five hypotheses for verification: 1. Berber city is an ancient crossing point. 2. Jadallah is an ancient village. 3. The road connecting Begrawiya and Jebel Barkal was first by boat to Jadallah crossing the river Nile. 4. The road between Jadallah village and Nuri crossing the Bayuda desert is the route of the coronation procession to Jebel Barkal. 5. The study assumes the existence of archaeological areas and sites along this road.

1.4 The Objectives 1.4.1 General Objectives The main objective of this study is to find the road used by the Meroitic kings for their coronation journey to Jebel Barkal.

1.4.2 Specific Objectives – To make sure that archaeological areas and sites exist along and at certain points of the road. – To discover one of the missing links in the history of Meroe. – To facilitate future studies in the area.

1.5 The Study Place River Nile State – Sudan (Bayuda desert).

1.6 Data Collection Methods The researcher used both primary data and secondary data such as oral narratives, observation, field investigation, interviews, reports, internet and books.

2.1 The Coronation Road of Meroitic Kings and the Exploration Efforts with Respect to the Road The ancient capital of the Meroitic Kingdom was located next to Begrawiya village around 200 km north of the modern Sudanese capital Khartoum, in the River Nile State. Meroe became the capital of the Kingdom of Kush after Napata in the period from 750 BC to 350 AD. There were © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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many rulers that sat on the throne of the Meroitic empire (kings and queens) who obtained a certain holiness influencing the stability of the kingdom that derived from religious beliefs to their god Amun. The enthronement of a new king took place in the royal capital Meroe after the death of his predecessor. The king that was chosen in Meroe undertook a coronation journey to the Amun temple at the Jebel Barkal. This required a long trek between the two places (Meroe and Jebel Barkal). This journey has been reported in royal historical inscriptions. The king also visited some other holy places on his way before reaching the temple at Jebel Barkal. After he completed the coronation ceremony, was blessed by the gods and attained sacredness in front of the parish, the new king went back to Meroe. Descriptions of this journey have been found in some inscriptions, in which the kings tell that the journey to Jebel Barkal took three or five or nine days. The journey between Meroe and Jebel Barkal passed by a place called Astrsat. The travel party arrived there one day before they crossed the Bayuda desert to Jebel Barkal. Although the coronation journey is mentioned in the ancient texts, the route between the holy mountain of Jebel Barkal and Meroe city became a conundrum for all archaeologists working in Sudan, because of the archaeological importance of this road.1

2.2 The Efforts to Find this Road Some archaeologists assumed that the road followed the river Nile between Begrawiya and Jebel Barkal. This route between the two places is long and the existence of the 4th and 5th Cataracts hinders river navigation by boat especially in summer. One of the kings was said to have avoided these cataracts and crossed the desert to reach Napata.2 Archaeological missions working in the Bayuda desert such as the GAME project (Gdańsk Archaeological Museum Expedition, since 2008) aim at getting a general picture of the history of settlement in this part of Sudan and at creating maps of archaeological sites.3

Fig. 2:

1 2 3

Exploration journey done by the desert explorer Michael Asher from Mettama west of Shendi town to Korti (photo after http://www.secretcompass.com/expeditions/past-expeditions/sudancrossing-bayuda-desert/).

Omar Alzaki: 2005. Omar Alzaki 2005: 47–53. http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/news/news,396059,20-years-of-the-game-project.html (2013).

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In addition, one needs to mention an exploratory journey done by the desert explorer Michael Asher from Mettama west of Shendi town to Korti across the Bayuda desert (280 km) by camel and on foot.4 Finally, there is the comprehensive research done by the W.A.D.I. project from Münster University, Germany. They began their work in 2009. Their point of departure was Sanam Abu Dom and they were investigating along the Wadi Abu Dom.5 The project director, Angelika Lohwasser, gave a well-attended lecture at the Goethe Institute in Khartoum on 24 February 2016. In that lecture, she said that there is no archaeological evidence dating back to the Meroitic period that would prove the existence of the road link between Meroe and Jebel Barkal through the Wadi Abu Dom.

3.1 Berber Berber city is located in the River Nile State, Northern Sudan, 36 km north of Atbara near the confluence of the Atbara River and the Nile. About 350 km north of Khartoum, it is situated on the right bank of the Nile. Historically, it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1820 while its ruler owed allegiance to the kings of Sennar. The Mahdists (local revolution army) took it on 26 May 1884 and the English army retook it on 6 September 1897. The English explorer Samuel Baker passed through Berber on his way to discover the Albert Nyanza Lake in 1861. The city was a junction for old caravan roads across the Nubian Desert to the Red Sea at Suakin, a distance that took seven to twelve days by camel. It was also one of the principal stations between Cairo and Khartoum. The caravan road to the Red Sea was superseded in 1906 by a railway between Wadi Halfa and Khartoum (Fig. 3). Berber lost its important role when Atbara city became the railway center to all Sudan, though it remains to be a considerable local trade center, but now its importance is diminished. Berber is one of the first Sudanese towns that experienced modern schooling. The tribes inhabiting this city are mainly Ja’alin with fewer numbers of Ababda and others.6

3.1.1 Berber Locality The Berber locality is one of the seven localities in the River Nile State (Matmma, Shendi, Ed-Damer, Atbara, Berber, Abu Hamed,Al-Bohaira), extending in an area of about 14,000 km2 and 108 km along the river Nile, bordered by the Atbara locality in the south and the Red Sea State in the east and the Abu Hamed locality in the north and west. The estimated number of the population is per capita about 160,000. The main activity of the inhabitants is agriculture, since especially this region has large fields irrigated by the Nile flood. In spite of the desert climate, there are also areas for rain fed agriculture.7

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bitemytrip.com/place/cross-the-bayuda-desert-in-sudan/ (2013). Lohwasser 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berber,_Sudan. Berber, Sudan: www.marefa.org/index.php/ .

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Fig. 3:

A view of old Berber (1920). Long an important center of the Nilotic and trans-Saharan trade routes, Berber was ruined during the Mahdiyya. With construction early in the Condominium of the railways between Wadi Halfa and Khartoum, and between the Nile at Atbara and the Red Sea, Berber never recovered its former prominence (photo Ref. A81/248, collection J. A. Gillan, photographer unknown, probably J. A. Gillan).

3.1.2 The Sudanese Place Name Berber as ‘Historic City’ The nickname of Berber commonly known by the Sudanese is ‘Historic City’, the sources of the origin of the name are due to the following reasons: 1. The name of the city is Nubian like the names of a lot of cities and places in Northern Sudan. The correct pronunciation of the name is “Bar Ber” consisting of two syllables of ‘Bar’ which designates “flat land” in Nubian language (like algroof). Additionally, ‘Ber’ also means “movable”. My observation is that all the flat land in the Berber locality has names beginning by Bar or Ber such as Ber Barra, Ber Wadi, Ber Raka, Bar Roob and Bar Baisa. 2. Some Sudanese believe that many Sudanese traditions originated in Berber, such as the wedding ritual and also the main Sudanese food (kisra) that is made from durra flour. The idea that kisra comes from Berber was confirmed by the discovery of a tomb dating back to the Meroitic era that had durra inside pottery vessels with inscriptions naming the corn crop on them. And there is evidence for juice (hliomor) and wine (marissa) whose utensils of production were found in the Dangeil temple.8 3. Berber was considered to be one of the old caravan junctions with roads linking it to the ports at the Red Sea, Egypt, Central Sudan and West Africa.9 8 9

Ahmed & Anderson 2010: 22. Asharq al-Awsat newspaper 2004.

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4. Old navigation routes link Berber city and the other areas located south of Berber.10 5. British and French missions as well as the Sudanese National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM) discovered antiquities in the Berber region, which indicate that the area was part of the Kingdom of Kush.11

3.2 Jadallah Village in West Berber City 3.2.1 Location and Population Jadallah village is located in the western Berber city between 18°02’32.0’’ to 18°04’35.7’’N at about 33°57’05.0’’E. It is governed by the administrative unit Western Berber, that is itself located in the eastern Bayuda desert. The village is inhabited by a mixed population of the Mairfab tribe who commonly own the land. The origin of the name Jadallah village goes back to a man called “Jadallah”, who came from a place called Umm Shadida east of Shendi. The village took its name after Jadallah had married a woman from the Al-Manaseer tribe who used to cross to Berber through the Bayuda desert. They were coming to the Berber locality to work in agriculture and migrated from northern Sudan coming from Nuri. Now about 40 % of the total village population have origins in the Nuri area because it is an accessible route traveling between Jadallah and Nuri across the Bayuda desert. Most of the population works in agriculture and about 30 % of the population are immigrants inside and outside Sudan.12

3.2.2 The Indicators Showing Jadallah is an Ancient Village There are many aspects indicating that the Jadallah village is an ancient village: a. Customs and Traditions There are many customs and traditions practiced by all Sudanese, but we found them to be deeper rooted in Jadallah than at other places. The people in Jadallah continued to practice them until a time not too long ago, especially the funeral ceremony, during which there was a group of women wearing animal leathers, hitting the drum and telling the good deeds that the deceased did in his life. This was accompanied by a dance called alrdeeh that was regularly practiced until the year 1969.13 The alchlokh (scars on the cheeks on both sides of the face) habit is practiced in Jadallah village more often than in other villages in Sudan, so nowadays there are about 150 men and women with alchlokh on their faces (personal observation). This habit was coming from the Meroitic civilization.14

10 11 12 13 14

Alrwawees: groups that make traditional boats and work on the Nile. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/research_projects/all_current_projects/sudan/berber-abidiya_ project.aspx . Abdalla Mohamed, 40 years old, Jadallah, teacher. Oral narrative: Zainab Mustafa, 70 years old, Jadallah. Hassan 1975; Yusuf Fadl 1975: 24, Fig. 3.

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As for women who give birth, their families put a bone of a dead animal under their beds believing that it drives off evil spirits.15 All of these habits are said to originate in the Meroitic civilization. b. An Ancient Irrigation Channel (Anj Channel) An oral narrative reports that there was an irrigation channel with a length of about 2.5 km. The channel existed until is was gradually replaced by agricultural machineries, but it was seen at least until 1950. Residents said that this channel was dug by the Anj since they would attribute any old thing to the Anj. It is worth mentioning that the period of the Anj came after the collapse of the Meroitic Kingdom. The Turkish Empire rehabilitated this channel for irrigation fed by the Nile flood.16 This channel might also have had navigational purposes because it ended at a place called the “Treasure Castle”. There are parts of the channel near the Nile, which still can be seen at the cordinates 18°03’29.8’’N 33°57’29.4’’E. c. An Ancient Cemetery and Offerings The current cemetery of Jadallah is one of the largest burial grounds when compared to other village cemeteries in all of Sudan. It is confirmed that the village was inhabited since ancient times and that also the residents from the neighboring areas buried their dead in the Jadallah cemetery despite the existence of cemeteries in their respective villages, due to the belief that their predecessors were buried in this cemetery.17 The residents of the villages have customs and traditions to visit the graves and make offerings to the dead. There are four places visited, each one had a specific ritual and different purpose. The first one is a cemetery outside the village, 30 km to the north. It is called “Abbashr Abu Basharia” and is situated next to a village called Votoar where women used to go with their (especially male) children to shave their boys hair at this cemetery. It is, however, required that the child had his hair not shaved before. Their mothers believed that the child would be blessed through this ritual and would be granted success in his life. After the ceremony, offering animals were slaughtered and money would be put on the graves (Fig. 4). The other locations are first an ancient cemetery in the village that was also visited for rituals of children, called ‘Suleiman Wad Alhag’. The second one is a very big cemetery called “Alnahawi”. It confirms that this village is one of the oldest human settlements because of the existence of many tombs with different shapes, while nobody in the village knows the history of this cemetery (see Google maps for more information at 18°03’10.4’’N 33°56’33.7’’E). People in the village used to visit this cemetery. But before they visited it, the families chose a small goat and cut off its ear, while the goat was afterwards not sold or slaughtered but only used for offering. The third cemetery is called “Outman Alroodh”. It is different from the others because there was no slaughter offering but only visitors carrying tea and coffee reciting the benedictions. The visit took place on Saturdays only.18

15 16 17 18

Oral narrative: Zainab Mustafa, 70 years old, Jadalla. Oral narrative: Zainab. Own field investigation. Oral narrative: Abdalla Mohamed, 45 years old, Jadalla.

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Fig. 4: Shaving children’s hair at the Abbashr Abu Basharia cemetery (after drmajdialhaj blogspot. com/2012/07/blogpost_4840.html).

The villagers were practicing this ritual until the 80s of the last century. The habit of offering for the dead was also practiced in the Meroitic Kingdom.19 d. The ‘Treasure Castle’ (18°04’06.2’’N 33°57’05.9’’E) The ‘Treasure Castle’ is located between the farming land and the village cemetery. My observation about this place is that it now became farmland and/or a cemetery. The oral narratives report that it was a gathering place for those coming across the Bayuda desert. Other oral narratives tell that this place was a graveyard for Christians. In addition to the affirmation from old people that this place is a cemetery, they also said that they found a tomb buried near the irrigation channel.20

3.3 Nuri Nuri is a place in modern Sudan on the south (east) side of the Nile. Close to it, there are the pyramids belonging to Nubian kings. Nuri is situated about 15 km east of Sanam and 10 km from Jebel Barkal. All these remains belong to the ancient city of Napata, the first capital of the Nubian Kingdom of Kush.21 19 20 21

Basheer 2005: 365. Oral narrative: Abdalla Mohamed, 45 years old, Jadalla. For Gebel Barkal see www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Gebel%20Barkal&item.

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4.1 The Forgotten Road Between Jadallah Village and Nuri The track between Nuri and Jadallah is a forgotten route, although it was an important and vital road, whose importance goes back to a connection with the continental desert road of which it is one of the branches (Darb Al-Arbaeen Road). That road linked Egypt and Sudan and the ports on the Red Sea.22

4.1.1 The Road Names The road has a lot of names, but they are only known in a specific area around Jadallah: a. ‘Alfashir Road’: Travellers coming across this road from Darfur through the Darb AlArbaeen would transit to the ports on the Red Sea to reach the holy lands in Saudi Arabia. Because the old caravan road linked Berber to Suakin on the Red Sea, the inhabitants in Jadallah still call the main road in the village Alfashir Road. b. The ‘Donkey’s Road’: The road got this name because the family relatives from Nuri and Jadallah used to cross the Bayuda desert by donkeys on a journey taking three days.23 c. ‘Caravan Road’: The road is called like this because this road was a trade road linking Northern Sudan and the Darb Al-Arbaeen with the Red Sea.

4.2 The Starting Point of the Road The road starts at a place called “Treasure Castle” on which the oral narratives have it that the travelers gather at this place to cross the Nile to take another caravan route from Berber to the Red Sea.

4.3 The Road Features a. The Spring The existence of an old spring in Jadallah draining to the river Nile indicates that there are water sources in the Bayuda desert. b. Distance Reduction between Jadallah to Nuri If you want to travel along the river Nile from Jadallah to Nuri you need more than 400 km, if you cross the Bayuda desert, however, you only need around 253 km (see Google maps). c. The Avoidance of the Area between the 5th and 4th Cataracts The 5th Cataract is located about 30 km north of Jadallah and extends for a distance of about 100 km which large numbers of rocks, islands and an increased water flow speed in a narrow

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Ishaq 2012: 96. Oral narrative: Naeem Algallp, 50 years old, Abuhraz.

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riverbed. Near Nuri there is the western end of the 4th Cataract area which extends for about 110 km. All this features provide only little to no possibilities in river navigation.24 d. The Existence of Water Sources There are several prerequisites for desert travel, amongst them is access to water. On this road there are five sources of water: Wells There are many wells along this road that are not expected to exist in such an arid desert. There are not deeper than 2–4 m. These wells were built of stones, however, nobody knows who built them (Figs. 5–6). Fig. 5: A well on the road (photo M. Madani).

Fig. 6: 24

Another well on the road (photo M. Madani).

For the Nubian Nile see: www.marefa.org/index.php/

.

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Altmd The second source of water is named “Altmd”. This refers to a hole less than one meter wide that is found in sandy areas and stores water from August to April (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7:

An Altamd (photo M. Madani).

Albawared The third source is a large basin full of water all the year, which derives from the rains called Albawared beside the Alfaria mountain. Water Storage by Dikes Water storage by dikes can be observed by the wall built in the Korby mountains by the government and the barrier Alaleem in the Wadi Abu Haraz that was built 6 years ago (Figs. 8–9). ʻStrange Springʼ In a place called Moelha inside a mountain range near the Wadi Abu Dom there are strange springs with fresh and salt water in one place (Figs. 10–11). e. The Existence of Signs which Help not to Lose the Way There are many signs and points of orientation along this road. When you reach one you can already see the other. These are, e.g., mountains such as the Atshan, Alnakhara, Korby, Nubati Abu Haraz, Nosb Alhosan, Almiheila and Alfaria (Tab. 2). f. The Myths The road passes by places that we heard a lot of myths and oral narratives about. One example is Wadi Abu Hareeg, said to be a place for smelting and the production of iron, as well as places and placenames like Wadi Umm Pharaoh, Hosh Aldhlam and Macan Alnar, “The Place of Fire”. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 8:

Korby mountain wall (photo M. Madani).

Fig. 9:

Alaleem barrier (photo M. Madani).

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Fig. 10: The strange spring Moelha (photo M. Madani).

Fig. 11: The Moelha (photo M. Madani).

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Tab. 1:

Water sources on the road between Jadallah village and Nuri.

Tab. 2:

Signs on the road.

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g. A Cave There is also a large cave on the road that travelers can use in case of rain and cold or raids by enemies.

5.1 The Results 1. Berber is an ancient city. This is confirmed by archaeological discoveries and since the city was an old crossroad linking the Red Sea with the Nile valley, it was a way point that one could use to avoid the 4th and 5th Cataracts. 2. The coronation road of the Meroitic kings between Meroe and Jebel Barkal crosses the Nile from the royal city of Meroe to Jadallah for the following reasons: a. Ease of river navigation between the two places, especially in the flood season. b. As mentioned above, the journey between Meroe and Jebel Barkal passed by a place called Astrsat where the procession arrived one day before the crossing of the Bayuda desert to Jebel Barkal. When I met boatmen in traditional river boats called “Alroawess”, they confirmed that the distance from Begrawiya to Jadallah takes one day by traditional boat. This, in turn, means that the place Astrsat is Jadallah. This is confirmed by evidence that shows the village was an ancient village. 3. The road between Jadallah and Nuri is the main road that crosses the Bayuda desert because of the existence of water sources, the shortcut distance, the avoidance of the area between the 4th and 5th Cataracts and the existence of signs which help not to lose the way. 4. That the road between Jadallah and Nuri is an ancient road that connected Meroe and Jebel Barkal is also proven by the existence of archaeological evidence like a cemetery and a station on the road. 5. The road was populated in earlier times as well as it is today. 6. The coronation journey began at the royal city of Meroe to Jadallah by boats. In Jadallah, it passed a channel (2.5 km) to the ‘Treasure Castle’ and visited the cemeteries in the village. It then left the spring in Jadallah (indicator of water) behind and in entering the Bayuda desert the first station was the Damaria well. There are other wells beside it after that at the Korby mountain station and from Korby to the big station beside the Alfaria mountain ridge around 70 km (the longest distance on the road). Beside these stations, the road gets to the Aid Alfaria well and leads across the mountain to the west to reach the Alban Gadeed well. After that, the route went beside the mountain (passing the Cave and the spring Moelha near the road) and entered the Wadi Abu Dom to Sanam, to Nuri (visiting the pyramids) and across the Nile to Jebel Barkal. 7. The Münster University archaeological survey starting from Sanam to enter the upper Wadi Abu Dom is in the direction of the return journey to Meroe. In this area there is only little archaeological evidence as there is at the starting point of the journey at Jadalla.

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Figs. 12–13:

A cemetery along the road (photos M. Madani).

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Figs. 14–15:

Madani Mohamed Abualfath Madani

An old station on the road (photos M. Madani).

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Fig. 16: A grindstone (photo M. Madani).

Fig. 17: Nomadic live along the road (photo M. Madani).

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Fig. 18: Nomadic live along the road (photo M. Madani).

Fig. 19: Course of the road from Jadallah to Nuri, Meroe’s kings coronation road (based on Google maps and with drawing of coronation road by M. Madani) 1 – Jadallah village; 2 – Damaria Well; 3 – Alaleem Barrier; 4 – Korby Station; 5 – Tamad Bit Azrag; 6 – Old Station; 7 – Aid Alfaria Well; 8 – Alban Gadeed Well; 9 – Moelha; 10 – Nuri.

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5.2 Recommendations – Archaeological work along this route must begin as soon as possible because there are thousands of gold seekers working on this road now and they have diggers. – The archaeological missions from foreign countries should listen to the local people. – Development projects should be done with the poorest nomadic people in the Bayuda desert in the context of every archaeological activity.

Bibliography Ahmed, S. M. & Anderson, J. 2010 Aladanqil Temple Excavations, Sudan; https://bookleteer.com/book.html?id=899. Alzaki, O. A. 2005 Meroe Kingdom, The History and Culture: Version series of Dams Implementation Unit: Edition No. 7, Damascus; http://diu.gov.sd/assets/uploads1/files/publications/g2/Merowe-History.pdf. Asharq al-Awsat 2004 The Discovery of the Ancient City in Northern Sudan – The caravan roads across it to the Red Sea, in: Asharq al-Awsat newspaper 9189; http://classic.aawsat.com/details. asp?article=21438 5&issueno=9189. Basheer, S. 2005 Kush kingdom history, Nabta and Meroe: Dar Alashegga for Typography and Publishing, Khartoum North: National Library Index. 962.4. Hassan, Y. F. 1975 Alchlokh. Origin and Function in the Nile Valley. Khartoum. Ishaq, I. M. 2012 Darb Alarbaeen, Cultures concourse. Sultan Ali Dinar Anniversary 96. Lohwasser, A. 2016 Report of the Project Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary, Seventh Season. http://wadi-abu-dom.de/wpcontent/uploads/2016/03/Report_WADI_2016.pdf.

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Regional Diversities of Palaeolithic Stone Tools: Comparative Studies Between the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River, the Bayuda Desert and Central Sudan Ahmed Hamid Nassr

Abstract Evidence for regional diversities can be observed over long cultural horizons in Sudanese archaeology, especially in view of prehistoric artifacts. Archaeological studies on Palaeolithic material recovered along the Nile and in the desert territories led to a chronological and technological differentiation into the Early, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic with their respective stone tool repertoires. Central Sudan and the Bayuda desert are the regions where the first discoveries of Palaeolithic sites were made, while recent fieldwork adds much new information from the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River. Previous studies of the Sudanese Palaeolithic have demonstrated large differentiations in stone tool technology, typology and horizons. In general, however, earlier comparisons were conducted between Central and Northern Sudan, while there are no endeavors comparing Central Sudan, the Bayuda desert and the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River. In the following contribution, the hypothesis will be raised that geographical diversities in these three regions lead to contrasting human adaptations, which thus might be reflected in the Palaeolithic stone tool repertoires. This paper puts the data of Palaeolithic stone tools from Central Sudan, the Bayuda desert and the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River into context, first, with earlier interpretations given in previous publications, second, with a revision of the Khaleefa Museum collections, whose stone tool assemblage was gathered by Anthony J. Arkell between 1940–1950, and, third, with surveys and test pits laid out in the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River in 2014. Multiple approaches towards comparative studies were taken in examining publications and stone tools, resulting in the disclosure of considerable differentiations in Palaeolithic stone tools in terms of archaeological cultures and chronology. The comparison of Palaeolithic stone tool assemblages from the three respective regions sheds light on the main course of cultural interactions in the Sudanese Nile basin regions and the interrelationship of Palaeolithic stone tools in the context of cultural development. Keywords: Palaeolithic, Acheulean, MSA, Stone Tools, Sudan

1. Introduction to Hypotheses, Study Problem and Method The long history of prehistoric archaeological research in Sudan has demonstrated the chronological extent and the importance of the Stone Age, with Sudan as the main location of early man in Africa.1 Three main Palaeolithic horizons are known from North and Central Sudan: 1

Arkell 1949; Wendorf 1968.

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the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. These horizons can be identified based on their specific stone tools and through assessments of palaeo-environmental remains.2 Mesolithic and Neolithic cultures were also discovered in Sudan that can be recognized by the gradual technological development of stone tools from Microlithics to polished stone tools and by accompanying cultural and social developments visible in many traits (pottery production, shift of the subsistence economy from food collection to food production; growth of farmer villages along the Nile).3 Several alternative reconstructions, or models, have been advanced to explain Palaeolithic behavior and habitation patterns of early man in the Sudan. Current models favor a central place situation (home bases). In this study, a comparison of Palaeolithic stone tools originating from different geological contexts, from distinct land resources and from diverse site settings is put forward to understand how stone tool technology and typology developed in different regions. Studying regional diversities is one of the most important research approaches in prehistoric investigations, particularly for the Palaeolithic. In Sudan, little research has been conducted on comparing stone tools. Landscape (site setting) and intra-regional contacts are understood here as the main reasons of both contrasts and commonalities within the stone tool assemblages. This study tries to compare Palaeolithic stone tools from the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River with Palaeolithic assemblages from Central Sudan and the Bayuda desert in order to determine similarities and differences and to raise hypotheses and questions about the reasons for technological and cultural variations and contacts. The underlying model implies that certain socio-ecological variables affected hominid attraction to specific places which, in turn, led to specific stone tool productions due to environmental adaptations. A comparison of the Sudanese Palaeolithic from three different regions has to consider resource distributions and paleo-environments (time and place), patterns of stone tools grouping, food choices and ranging distances. Yet geological sections and fossil records also contribute to the general understanding. The data used for the proposed comparative approach is derived from surface collections and test excavations undertaken in the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River in 2014. The interpretation of Palaeolithic stone tools of Central Sudan and the Bayuda desert is supported by a reassessment of the stone tool assemblage in the Khaleefa House Museum collected from different Sudanese regions by Anthony J. Arkell in the early 1940s. The standard methods of comparing stone tools have traditionally been established not only based on the techniques. There are also typologies and classifications which take raw material, stone tool size and weight into account, in addition to considerations on the stone tool’s edges, ends, butts, faces and striking platforms and on the function of the individual tools. The data from the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River sites reveal different raw materials and typologies, while in the same time it shows gradual developing technological horizons. The principle category of comparing stone tools adopted in this paper is lithic technology. This category is used to first understand the interactions among these regions chronologically and, second, to compare the taxonomic classification of stone tools from one region to the other. Additionally, the typology of stone tools sheds light on similarities and contrasts within these three regions, especially during the Palaeolithic. 2 3

Van Peer et al. 2003. Salvatori 2012; Nassr 2015.

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The main focus of the paper is directed towards determining the nature of the Palaeolithic assemblage of the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River and to assess contact attributes with the Bayuda desert in the northwest and Central Sudan in the southwest. These goals are reached first by describing the main archaeological sites within their landscape, incorporating result of previous studies. With regard to the Central Sudan, the stone tools have already been compared with collections from Kenya.4 For the Bayuda, earlier studies have contrasted Palaeolithic stone tools with respective datasets from the Combined Prehistoric Expedition (CPE).5 However, in more recent times, the finds of the Gdańsk Archaeological Museum Expedition (GAME) Bayuda Project have been correlated with assemblages from Sudanese Middle Stone Age (MSA) (Nubian) sites in Northern Sudan (Sai Island and Dongola reach).6 Also in Northern Sudan, the latest investigations in theAffad Basin have produced evidence for the youngest so far known MSAsites within their paleo-environment (animal bones), dating back to 15,000 years ago and revealing a glimpse into Middle Palaeolithic behavior patterns in the Middle Nile Valley.7 The datasets mentioned above show large diversities when comparing each assemblage with its counterpart from the neighboring area: the Central Sudan with the southern Nile basin and the Bayuda with the northern Nile basin. Besides that, the assemblage from the Eastern Desert of the Lower Atbara River has some similarities with Ethiopian specimen.8 The absence of Upper Palaeolithic sites in Central Sudan is particularly striking because of the rather extensive distribution of the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic there and the wide evidence for early ceramic industries.9 Several Sudanese Palaeolithic sites are known from Northern Sudan, mostly characterized by late Acheulean, Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Upper Palaeolithic stone tools (Fig 1).10 Besides, there is a rich terminology for phases and regions to describe Palaeolithic stone tools, mainly from eastern Africa, such as Early Stone Age (ESA) for the Lower Palaeolithic (Oldovan and Acheulean) dating from early humans to 300,000 BP. Also, the Middle Palaeolithic is defined by different terms according to regional diversities of Middle Palaeolithic stone tools, for example MSA, which is used to describe the Mousterian Age in general and contains Levallois technology and other contemporaneous technologies such as the Sangoan or Tumbian. These are specific technologies of stone tools dating from 250,000 to 30,000 BP. Besides that, other technologies developed into the Upper Palaeolithic, which are still MSA, such as Levallois and Aterian. Moreover, there are other terms used like Nubian Levallois, a group which also belongs to the MSA Palaeolithic.11 The Bayuda desert lies in the center of these regions, and has revealed MSA stone tools. However, there is no specific site related to the Lower Palaeolithic, except from some single Acheulean hand axes collected at Jebel Nakharu and close to the Wadi Abu Dom. On the other hand, the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River hosts extensive sites with Early and Middle 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Arkell 1949. Sandford & Arkell 1929–1949. Masojć 2010. Osypińska & Osypińska 2016. Nassr 2014. Arkell 1949; Arkell 1953; Salvatori et al. 2011. Wendorf 1968; Marks 1970; Garcea 2003. See Clark 1988; McBreaty 1988; Van Peer 1992.

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Palaeolithic stone tools as uncovered by recent discoveries.12 The Upper Palaeolithic has already been noted in the Upper Atbara River region (Fig. 1).13 The findings from recent work in both the Lower Atbara River and Bayuda desert regions allow to render visible several facets of Palaeolithic stone tools being different in technology and typology, and which, therefore, might shed light on regional diversities in a Palaeolithic context. The differences in landscape and environment between Central Sudan, the Bayuda and the Eastern Desert of Atbara River may help to narrow down the research agenda about the interaction and cultural diffusion of Palaeolithic culture. One of the possible hypotheses is based on intra-regional contact. While the Central Sudan and beyond is affected by the Nile (Middle Nile basin), the Bayuda is neighboring the Western Desert and Northern Sudan (Lower Nile basin). And the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River (Upper Nile basin) is characterized by the river from the Ethiopian highland and the adjoining Red Sea coastal. The Bayuda data shows single Early Palaeolithic sites, which might lead to the conclusion that the area is still untested in many parts. On the other hand, this problem gives rise to another hypothesis related to the environment, namely, should the Bayuda have been dry in Early Pleistocene times. Since Early Palaeolithic sites in Central Sudan were mostly found close to the Nile, the hypothesis of a dry phase of the Early Pleistocene seems confirmed. That is, however, seen differently in the Eastern Desert of Atbara River, where the Early Palaeolithic sites were discovered far from the river around a depression with a paleo-lake, which indicates wetter conditions in the Early Pleistocene. In the same time, each region shows different stone tool technologies and typologies for the Early Palaeolithic that might be related to human adaptation and differentiation phenomena. MSA stone tools were found in quite different locations in all these three regions. There are special site settings within each region, which suggest strong contrasts in stone tools technology and typology.

2. The Study Areas The study areas are the following three regions: the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River, the Central Sudan and the Bayuda desert (Fig. 1). The Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River extends on the east bank of the Atbara River in the Arabian Desert east of Atbara town and north of Seidon province upstream on the right bank of the river (Fig. 2). Within the area, some rocky areas are visible, which might be possible sources for local stone procurement and tool production. That is confirmed from a general geological point of view.14 This area was selected due to its geographical location and the distribution of natural resources. In general, the area is a flat desert sloping gradually from east to west, separated by different geomorphological structures, mainly mountains and deep water channels. During the survey and test excavations undertaken between Wadi Hudi and Wadi Abu Adar, six Palaeolithic sites were discovered in this area. Their stone tools assemblage will be used here 12 13 14

Nassr 2014: 108. Shiner & Chmielewski 1971. Whiteman 1971.

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as a starting point. The main site of the Central Sudan which will be discussed is Khor Abu Anga. In addition, there are other Palaeolithic sites located in the Khartoum province, mainly on the west bank of the White Nile. The Bayuda is the desert on the west bank of the Nile between Omdurman and the 4th Cataract area with the Nile bend up to Korti and Ed-Debba. Its main part is the area in the northern Nile bend adjacent to the 5th Cataract. It occupies an area of about 40,000 km2. Its volcanic core has geologically been developed over Precambrian and Paleozoic basalts.15 The topography of the Bayuda is characterized by relatively low relief except for a few isolated igneous ring complexes and volcanic fields. The rocks and geological constituents are affected by weathering creating negative relief depressions towards and along the river Nile, while the main water flow directions originate from the peaks of the volcanic fields and igneous ring complexes. Sand and gravel cover the northern and southern parts. Structural orientations of foliations and fractures in the rocks also control the patterns of wadis and streams. The most important wadis in the central-eastern Bayuda desert are the Wadis Kurmut, Singer, Absol, Sani and Von. In the western part, the Wadi Abu Dom is the main topographical landmark. Most of them are seasonal wadis, which are dry most of the year and only extensively active in the short rainy seasons.16

3. Methods and Data The comparative study builds on the history of Palaeolithic discoveries in the three respective regions (Atbara River, Central Sudan and Bayuda desert). A methodology needs to be established for achieving the general goals of the study set above. Several methodological approaches have been applied in previous Palaeolithic stone tools studies with regard to Southeast Africa. One common approach will be used here to compare the stone tools from the three different regions, beginning with an overview of the literature and a reclassification of the Khor Abu Anga collections, followed by a classification of the assemblages collected in the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River during a recent survey, in the context of which also some test trenches were dug. The site’s geomorphological setting constitutes the main variable for the comparative study. The location of the sites in each region and their distribution need to be assessed in order to set out technological and cultural transitions and inter-regional contacts. Site setting and landscape are also important factors to understand the resources available and raw material distribution patterns. The stone tool assemblages will be described and summarized based on publications for all three regions, and classified according to the Palaeolithic horizons they belong to, focusing on variables related to raw material, reduction, technology and typology by means of size, form and stone tool discards. Temporal changes in the assemblage compositions will also be explored within the respective stone tool kits. Finally, stone tool variations in respect of one site will be looked upon, too.

15 16

Almond & Poole 1984: 236. Kuster & Liegeois 2001.

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The initial case study was conducted while reassessing the Khor Abu Anga collection in the Khaleefa House Museum (Omdurman) and studying the assemblages collected during the survey and test excavations in the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River. The assemblage selected and reclassified from Khor Abu Anga comprises 230 stone tools. The classification started by assessing stone tool technology as regards flaking reduction on the faces and end finishing. In addition, the assemblage could typologically be divided into subclasses based on measurements, while the working edges of the respective tools were described. The data of the reclassified stone tools were compared with Arkell’s interpretation resulting in an illustrative study that contrasts size, shape, butt and end with the Bayuda and Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River assemblages. In the Eastern Desert of LowerAtbara River, an archaeological survey with test excavations was carried out to collect an assemblage within a specific geological and geographical context. Such contexts are needed to first classify the stone tools technology and typology according to the chronology of the African Palaeolithic, and second, to compare these stone tools with assemblages from Central Sudan and the Bayuda desert, also leading to a sound evaluation of the importance of the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River in the context of the Palaeolithic ‘Out of Africa’-debate. The classification was supported by measurements and weight. The stone tools are divided into main classes followed by subclasses. A description of the stone tools incorporates the striking platform, working faces, cutting edges and retouching scars. The stone tools have already been compared with relevant findings in Southeast Africa and show clear similarities with the Early and Middle Palaeolithic in Southeast Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea) and, therefore, provide clear evidence for contacts with the Ethiopian highland and the Red Sea coastal.17 The results from each region need to be examined together to describe the general features of Sudanese Palaeolithic regional diversities.

4. History of Research and Field Work Data Research on the Palaeolithic in Sudan began seventy years ago, by surface collections and small-scale test excavations. Central and Northern Sudan were the main regions that have been investigated. Research was also done in the areas in between.18 The three focal regions of this study are particularly characterized by a certain lack of Palaeolithic research, they should, however, be suitable regions for early human presence and habitation in terms of their geographical location and landscape. The first notes on early Sudanese stone tools come from a survey that was undertaken by K. S. Sandford and A. J. Arkell at the 5th Cataract. However, it was not a systematic survey, so only preliminary descriptions of the Palaeolithic collections from single sites in the 5th Cataract area and the Bayuda desert are given.19 Besides that, the results of Arkell’s survey of the Sudan (1938–1949) (Fig. 1) provided the basic information for Palaeolithic stone tools in Sudan. Arkell presented his results at the first Pan-African congress that took place in Nairobi 17 18 19

Nassr 2014: 112. Arkell 1949; Wendorf 1968; Chmielewski 1968; Elamin 1981; Rots & Van Peer 2006. Sandford & Arkell 1928: 17.

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1947, while the description of stone tools and his comments are published in his book ‘Old Stone Age in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan’.20 In this work, Arkell notes many Palaeolithic sites along the Atbara River and in Eastern Sudan, some of which were discovered by E. J. Wayland in 1942 and J. W. Crowfoot during 1911–1920. Arkell provided a general description and typology of the Acheulean in the Sudan and assessed the taxonomic variables of the Late Palaeolithic. He compared the assemblage from Khor Abu Anga with collections from Kenya. He later modified his methodology when he wrote about Shaheinab and other sites in Central Sudan.21 The site of Khor Abu Anga acts as a reference in the Sudan for the Early Stone Age. From Arkell’s descriptions, it contained three Acheulean levels, while the fourth was characterized by MSA stone tools (Levallois and Aterian). A further and more thorough description of the site and its contexts comes from an excavation carried out later at the site.22 In the 4th Cataract area, Arkell (1949) noted some single sites on the sandstone escarpment on the right bank of the Nile that were covered with thick rounded quartz gravel, which may have been an old terrace deposit of the Nile. On the top of Jebel Nuri on the left bank of the Nile, single Acheulean stone tools were recorded as well.23 In the Tangasi area, cores, scrapers and flakes made from sandstone in the faceted platform technique have been documented. These sites with different chronology indicate that the Nile Valley deposit sections have been cut since Early Pleistocene times and that the equivalent of the Early Tertiary to Late Cretaceous Shendi-Tangasi formation must be situated well back from the river.24 Later, scholars elaborated and extended Arkell’s conceptions and classifications of Early and Middle Palaeolithic stone tools and used Khor Abu Anga as the starting point for understanding assemblages of the Sudanese Palaeolithic in the North, for which the Third Nubian Campaign put forward a chronology on the basis of a series of discoveries during 1959–1970.25 Although the area between the 4th and 5th Cataracts was a focus area for archaeological research for several decades,26 the Bayuda desert was generally virgin area and the Palaeolithic sites were largely untouched. The history of research in the Bayuda in general is discussed by M. Lange (2008), who takes many prehistoric sites into account already described in Fuller & Smith 2004. Some Palaeolithic sites could be recorded in the context of geological work across the eastern part of the Bayuda.27 There are some single find spots that are indicative of Palaeolithic occupation in the area close to the Nile in the Al-Bawga reach, which might even be related to the main Palaeolithic site recorded by Arkell at Jebel Nakharu (Fig. 1).28 Other Palaeolithic sites are known on the ridges of the mountains on the left bank of the Nile besides Mograt Island, El-Shereik and Dagash, where extensive archaeological field 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Arkell 1949. Arkell 1953. Carlson & Sigsted 1967: 53. Arkell 1949: 37. Whiteman 1971: 124. Wendorf 1968; Marks 1968. Crowford 1953; Elamin & Edwards 2000. See Meinhold 1979 as mentioned in Masojć 2010; and Masojć this volume. Arkell 1949: 37.

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work and salvage surveys were conducted by NCAM (National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums). The sites recorded included Palaeolithic stone tools from places close to the Nile. The Palaeolithic prehistory of the Bayuda is also known from archaeological activities in the 4th Cataract area and beyond, as presented during the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies in London 2010. The mission of the Gdańsk Museum undertook a regular archaeological reconnaissance of the Bayuda desert that revealed many Palaeolithic sites whose assemblages were collected from the surface while some test excavations were conducted, too.29 In addition, there are other projects in the Wadi Abu Dom and the Al-Bawga reach.30 Furthermore, Palaeolithic stone tools have also been recorded in the El-Gol area (Fig. 1).31 The main site that contained a MSA stone tool agglomeration and that was tested through systematic survey, excavation and absolute dating is the Jebel Alaz site BP177.32 Although the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River is a rather untouched area compared to the number of archaeological investigations in Central Sudan and the Bayuda desert, many Palaeolithic sites are mentioned for this region.33 Lower Palaeolithic tools were for instance noted in Khor El-Hudi by Arkell.34 Another group of Palaeolithic stone tools was noted along the river near the present town of Kashm El-Girba. In 1966, J. L. Shiner discovered some MSA and Late Palaeolithic sites during a survey of the Nile valley in the adjacent steppe near the town of Kashm El-Girba (Fig. 1).35 The character of this assemblage was described in many publications while more sites have been investigated in 1981 during an archaeological joint project between Khartoum University and Southern Methodist University.36 Besides that, the area close to Atbara town revealed parts of late prehistoric sites (Mesolithic and Neolithic) notes by Equalithic, which means the sites content Mesolithic and Neolithic archaeology and combination between the desert and the river lifestyles.37 In addition, the landscape and geological formation of the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River is indicative of early interactions with the Upper Atbara River region and the desert beyond.38 This is particularly true for the Northern Sudan, where archaeological studies revealed Early and Middle Palaeolithic stone tools with wide links between the Nile and the Western Desert.39 During our survey that was carried out at the right bank of the Atbara River, five sites have been discovered (EDAR01–EDAR05) with MSA stone tools exposed at the surface. Another one (EDAR06) was investigated in the desert and revealed Early/Lower Palaeolithic stone tools (Fig. 2).

29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39

Masojć 2010. Lohwasser 2011. Jesse et al. 2013: 60. Masojć 2010: 65. Arkell 1949. Arkell 1949: 34; Chmielewski 1968: 41. Shiner & Chiemelwski 1971: 58. Elamin 1987; Shiner & Chmielewski 1971; Fattovich 1993. Haaland & Magid 1991: 39. Abbate et al. 2010: 296. Wendorf 1968.

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Map of Central Sudan, the Bayuda desert and the Atbara River area with the main Palaeolithic sites mentioned in the text (map A. Nassr).

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Fig. 2:

Paleolithic sites discovered in the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River (map A. Nassr).

5. Geology of the Area The first geological descriptions of the Atbara River area were given by earlier researchers.40 In general, the area is characterized by exposed rocks of the Precambrian basement complex, which contain schists, metasediments, marble, quartzites, chlorite and epidotics.41 Arkell recorded fossil mammal bones and Early Acheulean stone tools from a 33 feet high terrace of the Atbara River on the left bank upstream of the Butana bridge.42 Berry and Whiteman 1966 studied the geological sections exposed on the east bank of the river, demonstrating that the river is cutting into thick series of sands, gravels and clays exposed from the bridge up to the plain extending towards Kassala. The latest geological studies of the area documented extensive local rocks from the so-called Hudi Chert formation, with chert, granite, silica and ignimbrite as the main components.43

40 41 42 43

Abdalla 1966; Matuck 1975 in Salih 2005. Whiteman 1971: 47. Arkell 1949: 35. Salih 2005: 92.

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Survey and geological explorations done in 2013 and 2014 show the different rocks consisting of gravel and outcrops of quartz, chert, ignimbrite and sandstone. The gravels of the Lower Atbara valley contain much chert derived from the Hudi Chert formation. To the east into the desert, the terraces contain agates and other varieties that may have been derived from the Red Sea Hills coastal. On the river bank, there are accumulations of pebbles and agate which might originate from the eastern Sudanese highland or Eritrea. The area is enclosed by deeper channels draining the Eastern Desert into the river and is restricted by mountains and flat mounds. The Palaeolithic sites found close to the river within these outcrops and gravel mounds are widespread, while others have been found in the desert in proximity to a paleo-depression close to the mountainous high land. The stratified deposits from spots overlooking the surface and from the wadi sections indicate paleo-climatic changes. This led us to make a trench on the site EDAR06 in the desert, which revealed stratified sediment deposits with stone tools in the sections. In comparing the data of our geological section with the hypothesis of Arthur J. Whiteman: “If the Acheulean stone tools described by Arkell in Atbara are accepted, then in the Atbara Valley there are Middle Pleistocene deposits and this area might well repay a close search for human remains”,44 we see that they are clearly fixed by the discoveries of Jebel El-Grain site.45 The geology of the Central Sudan – as described with reference to the exposed bedrocks – is characterized by iron-rich sandstone outcrops, at whose top surface there are mixed gravels that were laid down by a stream draining to the Nile flowing at 379–380 m above sea level.46 On the west bank of the Nile, the sandstone outcrops extend westwards to the El-Markhiyat mountains. The ironstone-capped mesas are overlooking the area, while the Nile draining this region probably originated on this surface. The Khor Abu Anga is a small tributary that joins the main Nile a few hundred yards below the White and Blue Nile confluence. The geological sections of Khor Abu Anga reveal data about the geology and local environment during the Palaeolithic. Arkell suggests that the Kankar deposit was formed during an arid phase of the Pleistocene and that the climate in that time might not have been very different from the present.47 The layers of Khor Abu Anga described by Arkell 1949 and Whiteman 1971 and containing Palaeolithic artifacts were layers Four and Five. Layer Four, consisting of water worn coarse gravel and boulders of Nubian sandstone, had Lower Palaeolithic stone tools in various position of 1–3 ft. depth, which were described as Chellean and Acheulean. Layer Five, consisting of fine iron-stone gravel with Kankar deposits derived from the iron-rich sandstone formation, contained Middle and Upper Acheulean stone tools in a depth of 4 ft. The younger stone tools display technological changes and are, therefore, also indicative of environmental change. The Tumbian artifacts show some tangs that Arkell saw as cases of reworked Acheulean stone tools, which would be suggestive of economic changes from riverside hunting to foraging in the hinterland of the desert. This idea could be accepted when we compare it with J. Desmond Clark’s suggestion,48 that the Acheulean stone tool bearing 44 45 46 47 48

Whiteman 1971: 127. Nassr 2014: 112. Whiteman 1971: 109. Arkell 1949: 17. Clark 1966.

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gravels may be in part Early Pleistocene, and with Whiteman’s description, that the Early Pleistocene is approximately equated with the Middle Würm glacial. The geological deposits also indicate a main Late Pleistocene interval contemporary with Sangoan and Tumbian stone tools, which might correlate to a wet phase according to the changes in stone tool technology with an apparent focus on heavy duty functionality more than on cutting edges.49 The conclusion put forward by Arkell in 1949, that there may have been a renewal of wet conditions slightly earlier farther north of Khor Abu Anga, is not warranted by the field evidence.50 The Bayuda as a large desert divided by a complex water channel network and a series of volcanic mountains is situated inside the great bend of the Nile in Northern Sudan. Geological studies in the Bayuda desert started early and its rocks were described by Whiteman 1971 and Kuster & Liegeois 2001. The main surface formations that define the landscape are derived from the Nile and wadi floods. The southern part of the Bayuda is flanked by a flat to gently rolling country with occasional low mountains set well back from the Nile. There are extensive terrace deposits at the Jebel Nakharu, where early Tertiary Hudi cherts sit on a sandstone formation and tertiary basalt is exposed.51 North of the Jebel Nakharu, there are extensive gravel plains, which yielded Acheulean stone tools.52 At the 5th Cataract, there are many water courses sloping from the mountains, while the valley is mainly incised into a flat to gently undulating surface, cutting across metamorphosed rocks of the basement complex. The main rocks in the northeast part are built from Mesozoic materials such as granite, quartz and basalt.53 In the southern part, the rocks are made from Cretaceous formations, with quartz, sandstone and basalt as the main rocks.54 In the central part of the Bayuda, volcanic rocks are the dominant features.55 Many hypotheses have been raised with regard to Bayuda paleo-ecology,56 however, there are no absolute dates from geomorphological research. There is a hypothesis about a paleolake in the center of the Bayuda territory and the idea that the main wadis may once have been actual channels of the Nile. According to the general geological map of the Bayuda,57 many wadis and paleo-channels follow strips of alluvial sediment which run through Nubian sandstone formations. This raises doubts regarding late prehistoric studies in the 4th and 5th Cataract areas and the indications of the Middle Palaeolithic there.58 There is a strong possibility that in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic the water sometimes traversed the desert flowing through these passages in periods of wet conditions, with the low land remaining as residual lakes during the dry period. We can accept this hypothesis based on the areaʼs size. Since seasonal movement to the Nile should be difficult in that time, there must have been some sort of permanent occupations in the desert. 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58

Almond et al. 1984. Arkell 1949: 27. Whiteman 1971: 123. Arkell 1949: 37. Whiteman 1971: 78. Kuster & Liegeois 2001: 12. Masojć 2010: 63. See Fuller & Smith 1998. Obeyok Evuk 2013. Cf. Masojć 2010.

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6. Site Settings The study of site settings relates to inter-site and intra-site assessments, which are central to the archaeological reconstruction. It seeks to examine special distribution patterns of the archaeological record in relation to the surrounding environment and natural resources. In Northern Sudan, prehistoric studies provided information about the Palaeolithic environment. For instance, site HP766 in the Wadi Umm Rahaw contained remains of big game animals that lived in the area during the Middle Palaeolithic. This suggests a rich region with regular rainfall and plant accessibility on the Nile. This place, however, is still far away from the Bayuda desert.59 Most of the Palaeolithic sites discovered around the Atbara River are clustered near the river bank, except the Early Palaeolithic site of Jebel El-Grain located far from the river in the desert (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3:

59

General view of Jebel El-Grain site Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River (photo A. Nassr).

Gaulteir et al. 2012: 168.

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The Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites reported at the Upper Atbara River were found close to earlier river silts and gravel mounds and are inset into probably Middle Pleistocene deposits,60 which rise some 25 m above the modern flood plain. In the Lower Atbara River region, the Lower Palaeolithic sites found far in the desert cluster around a paleo-depression of a deep river channel, an oasis close to the Jebel El-Grain and outcrops of chert and quartz. Middle Palaeolithic sites are found close to the river bank of an Atbara River paleo-channel and are situated on the mound and on a silica sheet about 30 m higher than the surrounding. The surface of the sites between the high mounds and the earlier river channel exhibit a minor basin-like topography with a small depression. The location of sites close to water sources is observed for Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites along the Upper and Lower Atbara River. Indeed, in the Lower Atbara River region some sites were discovered within extensive chert and silica sheets and outcrops. The depression of large wadis in the desert is less marked on the inland sides, being only about 10 m below the expanse of flat gravel and silts that extended east and south to the eroding steps of the higher Pleistocene deposit and the eroding deposits of water channels from the Eastern Desert. From a topographical point of view, the Eastern Desert is higher than the river bank and, except for a few traces along the wadis, consists mainly of narrow water channels. The area is sloping from east to west in the direction of the right river side with its alluvial sediments that is devoid of significant vegetation. The outcrops of rocks are situated close to the river and, while they are absent in the area above the river to the east, scattered small thorn trees grow in the low land and within the paleo-channel sediments. For the most part, however, the surface of the ground is bare and featureless, especially far in the desert. This is clear from the Jebel El-Grain Early Palaeolithic site. This site sits on a beach next to the margin of a paleolake depression. This site is different from the previous sites. The presence of such a site so far away from the river was in agreement with the main hypotheses of the study, during the general survey in the area. In Central Sudan, the Acheulean sites are found along the west bank of the Nile, next to the main deep water channel (Khor Abu Anga, Wadi Afu and Wadi Siru), to use the Nile and wadi waters. Most of these sites are also not far from the mountains, where the stone tool raw material was available. And the Nile appears to have been bordered by swamps; this idea is mentioned by Arkell 1949 and based on his finds and supported by the landscape of the area. On the other hand, the MSA sites were discovered in areas close to the Nile, while others were found in the desert. The main situation of Middle Palaeolithic sites in the desert is at the foot of mountains, close to paleo-lakes or oases.61 The Palaeolithic sites in the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River are not visible from the distance, it looks mainly that the stone tool workshops were located on the outcrops of chert and quartz. Its flake, debitage and waste remained at the outcrops and on the surface of the mountains. There are no clear habitations sites, but there are some indications for fire places next to sandstone rocks, recognizable through dark layers on the surfaces. These sites are open locations on the foot of mountains, along some water sources such as wadis or paleo-lakes. Most of the sites were reused by later prehistoric occupation lying on the paleo-depression.

60 61

Marks 1987. See Masojć 2010.

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From the site settings within the Bayuda desert, we can understand that the MSA groups preferred habitations on high locations close to raw material and water sources, which would suggest wet conditions in late Pleistocene times.

7. Stone Tools Palaeolithic stone tools in the Atbara River region are known from early discoveries. The comparative data used here was collected during recent field work conducted in the Eastern Desert. Archaeological research in the Upper Atbara River region has gathered rich assemblages of Upper Palaeolithic stone tools that were collected in the context of systematic surveys and test excavations.62 The samples consist mainly of chipped stone, backed blades and a few ground hand stones. Blade production was the dominant technology and there are blades with recognizable backed ends and one face conjoining detachments. The cores tend to have broad, slightly convex flaking-surfaces, due to the simple flake production from roughly faceted or unifacial cores. The site KG68 in Kashm El-Girba area is a rich site from a stone tool perspective. It shows differences to the other sites in the area, such as the use of agate rather than chert for tool production and the replacement of blades by flakes as tool blanks, which are closely related to MSA technology. On the other hand, our survey in the Lower Atbara River region carried out in 2013–2014 with additional test excavations provided evidence for large variations in stone tool technology and typology.63 Six Palaeolithic sites were discovered in the area and 1006 lithics collected. 951 stone tools were selected for a deeper classificatory study, mainly from the Jebel El-Grain site in the desert. The classification of stone tools from surface collections and test excavations at the Jebel El-Grain site shows that the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River contains a new aspect of the Sudanese Palaeolithic. The early stone tools produced from cores and the large cutting flakes such as chopping tools and cleavers (Fig. 4) are early Acheulean, which are unfamiliar in Sudan and similar to the Early Palaeolithic sites in Ethiopia (e.g. Omo) and in Kenya (e.g. Olorgasailie).64 Hand axes, picks and large knifes are the most common stone tools (Fig. 5). They were produced by large flakes and core reduction edges, which are closely resembling theAcheulean stone tools in northeast Africa (Khor Abu Anga and Arkin 8).65 The present MSA technology revealed large differentiations in terms of Sangoan, Tumbian and Levallois methods (Fig. 6). The later stone tools (MSA) were found close to the river and show similarities with Eritrean and Ethiopian MSA and late Acheulean stone tools.66 Most of the stone tools were made from local resources; some of the different sources could be observed in the area. The greenstone exposed in the water channels and at the mountain is massive, shows moderate to weak mineral foliation, and is sometimes dark, coarse-grained and highly sheared. Felsite is a common, very hard local rock of very dark color and a high 62 63 64 65 66

Elamin 1987; Marks et al. 1987. See Nassr 2014. Isaac 1977. Arkell 1949; Chmielewski 1968. Semaw 2000; Beyin 2013. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Fig. 4:

Early stone tools from Jebel El-Grain site Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River (photo A. Nassr).

Fig. 5:

Large hand axes from the site of Jebel El-Grain, Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River (drawing A. Nassr).

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Fig. 6:

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Different styles of late Acheulean and MSA stone tools from Jebel El-Grain site Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River (photo A. Nassr).

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green tarnish, while its concave fractures exhibit fine textures. Prophetic trachyte appears in low outcrops and is therefore infrequently exposed. Quartz and quartzites are the main rocks in the area. They appear in line shape, exhibit a fine to medium texture and are very hard.67 The assemblage studied consists of a long Palaeolithic typological list of bifacial stone tools. The large flakes and cores related to the Early Acheulean lithic technology show cores with flaking scars, forward detachment and working surfaces, which indicate a quite complex and developed stone tool industry. The large Early Palaeolithic flakes are formed by the intersection of two or more large flaking scars that are slightly inclined to each other. At some of the stone tools there also appear wave scars from a foreword flaking detachment (traces of knapping) and negative retouching. The big tools have a ventral shape from conjoining flakes, while the small striking platforms are either cortical from the surface of a core or made entirely by first flaking. The scars increase on the tools made of quartz and chert, which indicates that the flakes were the first to be detached from the boulders or stones that were selected as cores. The Early Palaeolithic stone tool industry is characterized by many typical large flake cutting tools (chopping tools, cleavers, hand axes, picks, knifes, Lanceolate points). There are only a few big tools made from large cobbles and blanks. Some are made from small flakes, which include bifacial points and Sangoan hand axes and sharp knives, similar to the late Acheulean and early MSA stone tool technology (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7:

MSA point from Jebel El-Grain, Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River (drawing A. Nassr).

The assemblages of MSA stone tools were mainly found at sites along the river. In the desert, far from the river, the MSA artifacts were secondary stone tools which can be described as developed early stone tools. They were either made from simple core types with worked edges and one striking platform or from bi-facially worked cores with flaking from two striking platforms. While flakes are common, also elongated blades with one sharp side and tip point are regularly attested. Rounded scrapers, points and denticulates were the main types of the stone tool repertoire. The small stone tools, for instance scrapers, arrow heads and burins, show the later technology of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic in the area (Fig. 7), which are represented by the backed blade technology and denticulate assemblages. 67

Nassr 2014: 112.

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Fig. 8:

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Late MSA stone tools from Jebel El-Grain, Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River (photo A. Nassr).

In conclusion, the stone tools discovered in the Lower and Upper Atbara River region show that the main sites in the area are Middle Palaeolithic. The Levallois and lanceolate points represent the dominant technology and the basic types of the MSA stone tool kit, which is first similar to the MSA technology in Ethiopia and its bifacial points and, second, similar to the Levallois point method and the lanceolate points. The sites in the Eastern Desert revealed different types of large cutting tools. The large and rather crude core tools are similar to one from the Omo Valley and Bed II in Oludvai collections, which are definitely related to the Early Palaeolithic.68 The MSA stone tools that were found and represent small hand axes and bifacial points with Sangoan, Tumbian and Levallois points, show some similarities with the Middle Palaeolithic in Central Sudan, the 68

Leakey et al. 1969; Stout et al. 2010.

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Bayuda desert and Northern Sudan.69 In addition, the small points and arrow heads from the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River also exhibit the general Upper Palaeolithic stone tools technology (Fig. 9).

Fig. 9:

MSA stone tools from Jebel El-Grain site Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River (photo A. Nassr 2015).

The data cited above indicates different Palaeolithic patterns along the Atbara River, similar to the Sudanese Palaeolithic in certain characteristic points, while different in others. The general features of the Palaeolithic in the Atbara River region can be summarized as follows: 1. The Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites cluster along the river bend in the upper and lower area. 2. In the Upper Atbara River region, backed blades represent the dominant stone tool technology of the Upper Palaeolithic, while in the lower region the lanceolate point and Levallois method are the most common technology. 69

Arkell 1949; Chmielewski 1968; Van Peer et al. 2003.

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3. The Palaeolithic site of Jebel El-Grain in the Eastern Desert has a stone tool assemblage different from other Sudan Palaeolithic sites. 4. The site of Jebel El-Grain provides a new type of Sudanese Palaeolithic lithic spectrum which is closely related to the Early Palaeolithic in Ethiopia and Kenya. Chopping tools, cleavers and big hand axes are the main stone tool types. 5. The MSA stone tools in the desert are different, since they exhibit Sangoan, Tumbian and Levallois methods which indicate a technological mix between Southeast and Northeast Africa in technology and typology. 6. The Palaeolithic stone tools from the Lower Atbara River region are different from those that are known in Sudan as regards their general features, but similar in a few characteristics such as the late Acheulean and Early MSA technology, which are closely related and resemble Palaeolithic specimen in Ethiopia and Red Sea coastal. Fig. 10: Hand axes from Khor Abu Anga (photo A. Nassr).

For Central Sudan, Arkell noted that there are developed Palaeolithic stone tools in Khor Abu Anga: 29 stone tools earlier than Chellean, 15 Chellean and 33 hand axes different in form and size that he divided into four sub-periods of the Acheulean. The later stone tools found on the surface comprise different stone points of Sangoan, Tumbian and Levallois technology. The following methods were carried out in reassessing the KhorAbuAnga collections in the Khaleefa House Museum at Omdurman: a reclassification of 230 stone tools was undertaken aiming at a general description of their technology and typology based on stone tool size, shape, dorsal and ventral working edges. Sandstone is the main raw material of these stone tools and the tools were made from flakes and working cores. The hand axes as the most common tools (Fig. 10) are closely similar to the Middle and Late Acheulean hand axes in Kenya.70 The different shapes of some hand axes, however, indicate a developed technology at the site in accord with Early MSA technology, which can be observed in case of the oval small hand axes and discs closely related to Sangoan stone tools. 70

Arkell 1949; Leakey 1931.

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Lanceolate points were as rare as small bifacial elongated spears, which are similar to the Tumbian stone tool technology, but different from the Levallois method with regard to their size, their regular bifacial reductions on both faces and having their butt worked as tang (the flaking of a stone tool butt to make a handle part) (Fig 11). The Levallois stone tools in the Khor Abu assemblage emerged from the scrapers and small knifes made from flakes. Fig. 11: MSA stone tools from Khor Abu Anga (photo A. Nassr).

The Bayuda is a large desert with different geological provinces and aspects, with a series of mountains and plain, deep water channels as the main features. Earlier studies of the Bayuda and regions beyond recorded many stone tools on the mountains and the west bank of the Nile. Large flakes within the debris of stone tool workshops have been noted from these places.71 Early Palaeolithic stone tools are lacking, however, some bifacial hand axes and knifes were collected at Jebel Nakharu, which is mentioned as an Acheulean site.72 The stone tools can be compared with the Khor Abu Anga assemblage and described as late Acheulean artifacts. Also, single stone tools were recorded in the area close to El-Gol,73 with stone tools similar to MSA technology, like classic Levallois scrapers. It is therefore reasonable to conclude – while bearing in mind the lack of Early Palaeolithic evidence in the Bayuda – that early and current archaeological field work in the Bayuda informs us that the most common stone tools are characteristic of the Levallois technology. The study of Masojć 2010 of the Jebel Alaz site (BP117) provides stratified MSA stone tools from the foot of a mountain. The assemblage collected amounts to 14,975 pieces, which contain cores, tools, flakes, blades, chunks and chips. 149 tools were collected from four trenches and show the techno-chronological phases of MSA stone tools in the Bayuda.74 The general features of the Bayuda stone tools can be summarised as follows: 1. The stone tools were made from local (volcanic) rocks (basalt, porphyry, quartz and fossils). 71 72 73 74

Sandford & Arkell 1933. Arkell 1949. Jesse et al. 2013. Masojć 2010: 68.

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2. The dominant Early Palaeolithic stone tools are particularly different: In the Atbara River region, there are cleavers, chopping tools and elongated hand axes made from cores and large flakes. In the Central Sudan, medium hand axes are common, while in the Bayuda desert single small hand axes are observed. 3. The main characteristic of the Middle Palaeolithic stone tools technology are Levallois core reduction and Nubian Levallois point types (I and II). 4. The stone tools show Levallois points, Mousterian points and foliate spears. 5. The MSA stone tools date to 250,000–150,000 BP, while the earlier ones consist of bifacial foliates, Levallois points and single hand axes. They are indicative of Early MSA stone tools, which resemble pieces from Northern Sudan with regard to the Nubian Levallois point method and small hand axes. At the same time, they are similar to the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River bifacial foliate spears and different from those that are known in the Central Sudan. 6. The absence of Sangoan and Tumbian stone tools shows a disconnection with the southern Nile Valley, while at the same time the absence of tang spear points and Mousterian denticulate indicates a local adaptation of the Bayuda desert in the Middle Palaeolithic and Early Upper Palaeolithic. 7. The stone tools from the Bayuda can also be assessed based on single pieces from the 5th and 4th Cataracts and site BP117. All these discoveries show mainly MSA stone tools, which – when compared with others regions – reveal good analogies with specimen from Northern Sudan, the Western Desert and as far as from Ethiopia. In this case, the question should be raised here about the character and extent of the regional contact and why there are no clear interactions with Central Sudan, although, however, the two regions adjoin in open land.

8. Conclusion and Final Remarks The stone tools of different Palaeolithic cultures from the Central Sudan, the Bayuda desert and the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River revealed that there are considerable differences in site locations and stone tool technology and typology, which shed light on local adaptation processes and subsistence patterns. At the same time, there are certain similarities that indicate several forms of contact and interaction between the Palaeolithic groups. The Palaeolithic stone tools in the Sudan represent a wide distribution pattern of the postAcheulean artifact horizons, which spread from the Northern Sudan and the Western Sahara. Although there are indications of links in stone tool technology between Northern Sudan and the Sahara,75 there are large differences and gaps in view of the Palaeolithic in Central Sudan.76 The Palaeolithic stone tools of Khor Abu Anga and other clustered sites appear to represent the first Early stone tool phase in the Sudan, which does not share many common elements with Northern Africa. Bifacial hand axes and large cutting discs were the dominant Acheulean stone tools, which can be compared with Southeast African, especially Kenyan collections.77 75 76 77

Wendorf 1968; Chmielewski 1968; Marks 1970; Van Peer 1992 and Garcea 2003. Arkell 1949. Arkell 1949: 12–17. © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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The MSA stone tools identified by Arkell are similar also to Kenyan and Ugandan MSA stone tools technology, where the Levallois technology was rare.78 The revisiting of the Khor Abu Anga assemblage revealed a general development of hand axes, from the largest specimen made from cores to the smallest made from flakes with small MSA technology. The survey and test excavations in the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River provide another exemplary collection of Palaeolithic stone tools, which, when compared with Central Sudan and the Bayuda desert, show large differences on the one, yet some similar features on the other hand. It seems that all the Sudanese Early Palaeolithic sites that are known from Central Sudan and the Bayuda cluster at the banks of the Nile, such as the mainly Acheulean sites Khor Abu Anga, WadiAfu and Shaheinab in Central Sudan, and the site at Jebel Nakharu in the Bayuda.79 Except the Eastern Desert of Atbara River, the earlier sites discovered in the desert and the later sites cluster at the river banks.80 The sites that have been discovered in the hinterland far from the Nile in the Central Sudan and the Bayuda were Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, such as the Jebel Alaz site (BP117). Here, it can be observed from stone tool variations that the early stone tools were made from large flaking and cores in the riverine environment (inter sites). Hand axes and bifacial lanceolates were the main stone tool types in Central Sudan and the Bayuda. In the Eastern Desert of Atbara River, however, these are chopping tools, cleavers and hand axes. The MSA sites in the desert and far from the Nile in the Bayuda and Central Sudan reveal the common stone tools with variations in MSA points. In the Eastern Desert of Atbara River, they were found close to the river. Besides that, there are differences between each region. In Central Sudan, the small hand axes, Sangoan, Tumbian and possible Aterian, are of MSA stone tool technology. In the Bayuda, the Levallois method is the most common technology for classical scrapers and Levallois points. In the Eastern Desert of Atbara River, bifacial points of Sangoan, Tumbian and Levallois tradition were commonly observed. The variations of Early Palaeolithic stone tools between Central Sudan and the Eastern Desert of Atbara River might be related to regional inter-actions and cultural diffusion phenomena. The Central Sudan is connected with Uganda and Kenya by the Nile, and the Eastern Desert of Atbara River is connected with Ethiopia and the Eritrean highland by the Atbara River and the Red Sea coastal. The differentiations of MSA stone tools in the three evaluated regions are indicative of different adaptations and usages that were – in the Atbara region and Central Sudan – affected by the development of lithic technology as seen with Acheulean bifacial stone tools and bifacial points with different sizes and hafting, while the tanged stone tools and Mousterian denticulates are rather rare. In the Bayuda desert, the Levallois is the dominant stone tool technology, as hunting stone tools developed over a thousand years in Northern Sudan and the Western Desert show.81 In general, the regional diversities of Palaeolithic stone tools between Central Sudan, the Bayuda desert and the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River can be summarized in the following points: 78 79 80 81

Arkell 1949: 17. Arkell 1949. Marks et al. 1987; Nassr 2014. Wendorf 1968.

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1. As regards the Early Palaeolithic, stone tools in Sudan are rare, although a few were discovered in Central and Northern Sudan and the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River. 2. The Early Palaeolithic stone tools from the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River show types different from those known from other regions of Sudan. 3. The Early Palaeolithic sites in Central Sudan cluster along the Nile channel and the main raw material is sandstone. In the Eastern Desert, the sites are located far from the river close to paleo-depressions and mountains, while the main raw material is chert and quartz. 4. MSA sites in the Eastern Desert and in Central Sudan cluster at the river, in the Bayuda, they are, however, found far in the desert or at the foot of mountains. 5. Most of the sites are workshops located on the outcrops and close to the mountains. There are no clear habitation remains, although there are some indications for habitation structures in the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River judging from the preserved stone structures and the stratification of sediments. 6. The Early Palaeolithic stone tools technology in Central Sudan is characterized by cutting flakes and a few cores. In the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River there are large cutting flakes and continuous detachment of cores, while in the Bayuda desert the flakes are retouched on one face and made by reduction cores. 7. The Early Palaeolithic stone tools show a transition from large handheld bifacial cutting tools to hafted points. 8. The Early Palaeolithic stone tools in the Central Sudan are defined as medium bifacial hand axes and discs. In the Bayuda desert, the large lanceolate and bifacial points are absent, the common stone tools are made in the Levallois method. However, in the Central Sudan the oval small hand axes (Sangoan) and small lanceolate tip points (Tumbian) are the main stone tools of the MSA. A different set of tools can be observed in the Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River, where small hand axes, bifacial points of Sangoan and Tumbian tradition and arrow heads are common. 9. The similarities can be assessed based on the Levallois stone tool technology, in which the end tip point is the general representative of MSA stone tools in the three regions, with simple variations. That is clear in the Bayuda desert, where the sharp scraper made from a core is Early MSA, while the Levallois point with two types is Middle and Late MSA in Central Sudan. Oval small hand axes (of Sangoan tradition) are characteristic of Early MSA and elongated spears (of Tumbian or Aterian style) might represent a different phase of Levallois technology. The Eastern Desert of Lower Atbara River revealed bifacial points with tip end points, small hand axes, spears and arrow heads, which display the whole MSA stone tool technology. The Levallois method was observed in all these different stone tools. The material presented in this study provides the basis for future research questions, especially with regard to Palaeolithic regional diversities. Firstly, however, the archaeological descriptions and tests need more thorough reassessing. The typology of stone tools and their technology needs unified classification methods and taxonomies to present how the stone tools developed and how technological diffusions among these three regions came into being. Moreover, this data needs to be combined with models of climate and environmental change in the greater region. Secondly, more detailed comparisons need to be made on site settings and stratification, in order to assess the chronology of the Sudanese Palaeolithic and its stone tool development.

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Bibliography Abbate, A. E., et. al. 2010 Pleistocene Environments and Human Presence in the Middle Atbara Valley (Khashm El Girba, Eastern Sudan). In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 292, 12–34. Almond, D. C., Kheir, O. M. & Poole, S. 1984 Alkaline Basalt Volcanism in North-Eastern Sudan: A Comparison of the Bayuda and Gedaref Areas. In: Journal of African Earth Sciences 2, 233–245. Arkell, A. J. 1949 The Old Stone Age in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Sudan Antiquities Service Occasional Papers No. 1. Khartoum. 1953 Shaheinab. An Account of the Excavation of a Neolithic Occupation Site carried out for the Sudan Antiquities Service 1949–50. London. Beyin, A. 2013 A Surface Middle Stone Age Assemblage from the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea: Implications for Upper Pleistocene Human Dispersals out of Africa. In: Quaternary International 300, 195–212. Carlson, R. L. & Sigstad, J. S. 1967 Palaeolithic and Late Neolithic Sites excavated by the Fourth Colorado Expedition. In: Kush 15, 51–58. Chmielewski, W. 1968 Early and Middle Palaeolithic Sites near Arkin, Sudan. In: Wendorf, F. (ed.), The Prehistory of Nubia. Volume I. Dallas, 110–147. 1987 The Pleistocene and Early Holocene Archaeological Sites on the Atbara and Blue Nile in Eastern Sudan. In: Przegląd Archeologiczny 34, 5–48. Clark, J. D. 1966 Acheulian Occupation Sites in the Middle East and Africa: A Study in Cultural Variability. In: American Anthropologist 68.2, 202–237. 1988 The Middle Stone Age of East Africa and the Beginnings of Regional Identity. In: Journal of World Prehistory 2.3, 235–305. Crowfoot, J. W. 1920 Old sites in the Butana. In: Sudan Notes and Records 3, 85–93. Crawford, O. G. S. 1953 Field Archaeology of the Middle Nile Region. In: Kush 1, 2–29.

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El-Amin, Y. 1981 Later Pleistocene Cultural Adaptations in Sudanese Nubia, British Archaeological Reports International Series 114. Oxford. 1987 The Later Palaeolithic in Sudan in the Light of New Data from the Atbara. In: Hägg, T. (ed.), Nubian Culture, Past and Present. Stockholm, 33-46. El-Amin, Y. M. & Edwards, D. N. 2000 Archaeological Survey in the Fifth Cataract Region. In: Sudan & Nubia 4, 44–50. Fattovich, R. 1993 Excavations at Mahal Teglions (Kassala) 1984–1988. Preliminary Report. In: Kush 16, 225–287. Fuller, D. Q. & Smith, L. 2004 The Prehistory of the Bayuda: New Evidence from the Wadi Muqaddam. In: Kendall, T. (ed.), Nubian Studies 1998. Proceedings of the Ninth Conference of the International Society of Nubian Studies, August 21–26, 1998. Boston/MA, 265–281. Garcea, E. 2003 Palaeolithic Sites at El-Multage, Sudan. In: Nyame Akuma 59, 62–65. Gaultier, A., Makowiecki, D., Paner, H. & Van Neer, W. 2012 Palaeolithic Big Game Hunting at HP766 in Wadi Umm Rahau, Northern Sudan. In: Journal of African Archaeology 10.2, 165–174. Haaland, R. & Magid, A. A. 1991 Atbara Research Project: The Field Seasons of 1985, 1987, 1989, and 1990. In: Nyame Akuma 35, 36–43. Isaac, G. L. 1977 Olorgesailie: Archaeological Studies of a Middle Pleistocene Lake Basin in Kenya. Chicago. Jesse, F., Fiedler, M. & Gabriel, B. 2013 A Land of Thousand Tumuli. An Archaeological Survey in the Region of El Gol, South of the 5th Nile Cataract, North Sudan. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 24, 59–73. Kuster, D. & Liegeois, P. 2001 Sr, Nd Isotopes and Geochemistry of the Bayuda Desert High-Grade Metamorphic Basement (Sudan): An Early Pan-African Oceanic Convergent Margin, not the Edge of the East Saharan Ghost Craton? In: Precambrian Research 109, 1–23. Lange, M. 2008 Die Altsteinzeit im Sudan. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 19, 89–104.

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Leakey, L. S. B. 1931 The Stone Age Cultures of Kenya Colony. Cambridge. Leakey, M. D., Tobias, P. V., Martyn, J. E. & Leakey, R. E. F. 1969 An Acheulean Industry with Prepared Core Technique and the Discovery if a Contemporary Hominid Mandible at Lake Baringo, Kenya. In: Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 35.3, 48–76. Lohwasser, A. 2011 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.), Kampagne 2011. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 59–68. Marks, A. E. 1968 The Mousterian industries of Nubia. In: Wendorf, F. (ed.), Contributions to the Prehistory of Nubia, Dallas, 194–214. 1970 Preceramic Sites. The Scandinavian Joint Expedition to Sudanese Nubia 2, Helsinki. Marks, A. E., Peter, J. & Van Neer, W. 1987 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Occupations in the Upper Atbara River Valley, Sudan. In: Close, A. E. (ed.), Prehistory of Arid North Africa: Essays in Honor of Fred Wendorf. Dallas, 137–161. Masojć, M. 2010 First Note on the Discovery of a Stratified Palaeolithic Site from the Bayuda Desert (N-Sudan) within MAG Concession. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 21, 63–70. McBrearty, S. 1988 The Sangoan-Lupemban and Middle Stone Age Sequence at the Muguruk Site, Western Kenya. In: World Archaeology 19, 388–420. McBrearty, S. & Tryon, C. 2006 From Acheulean to Middle Stone Age in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya. In: Hovers, E., Kuhn, S. L. (eds.), Transitions Before the Transition: Evolution and Stability in the Middle Palaeolithic and Middle Stone Age. New York, 257–277. Meinhold, K.-D. 1979 The Precambrian Basement Complex of the Bayuda Desert, Northern Sudan. In: Revue de Géologie Dynamique et de Géographie Physique 21.5, 395–401. Nassr, A. 2014 Large Cutting Tools Variations of Early Sudan Palaeolithic from Site of Jebel El-Grain East of Lower Atbara. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 105–122.

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Obeyok Evuk, D. O. 2013 Geodynamic Evolution of the Central-Eastern Bayuda Desert Basement, Sudan. Structural, Petrological, Geochemical and Geochronological Investigations. Dissertation Berlin, Fakultät VI der Technischen Universität Berlin. Berlin. Osypińska, P. 2012 The Lithic Traditions of Late-Pleistocene settlement at Affad, Sudan. Prehistory of North Eastern Africa, New Idea and Discoveries. In: Studies in African Archaeology 11, 213–221. Osypińska, P. & Osypińska, M. 2016 Animal Exploitation and Behaviour of the Latest Middle Stone Age Societies in the Middle Nile Valley: Archaeozoological and Taphonomic Analysis of Late Pleistocene Fauna from the Affad Basin, Sudan. In: African Archaeological Review 33.2, 107–127. Rots, V. & van Peer, P. 2006 Early Evidence of Complexity in Lithic Economy: Core-Axe Production - Hafting and Use at Late Middle Pleistocene Site 8-B-11, Sai Island (Sudan). In: Journal of Archaeological Science 33, 360–371. Salih, A. S. 2005 Geology, Characteristics and Possible Industrial Applications of Some Sudanese Kaolins. PHD Thesis School of Applied Earth Science, Al-Neelain University, Sudan. Khartoum. Salvatori, S., Usai, D. & Zerboni, A. 2011 Mesolithic site formation and palaeoenvironment along the White Nile (Central Sudan). In: African Archaeological Review 28.3, 177–211. Sandford, K. S. & Arkell, W. J. 1928 First Report of the Prehistoric Survey Expedition. Oriental Institute Comunications 3. Chicago. Semaw, S. 2000 The World’s Oldest Stone Artifacts from Gona, Ethiopia: Their Implications for Understanding Stone Technology and Patterns of Human Evolution Between 2.6-1.5 Million Years Ago. In: Journal of Archaeological Science 27.12, 1197–1214. Shiner, L. & Chmielewski, W. 1971 The Khashm el Girba Area. In: Shiner, L. (ed.), The Prehistory and Geology of Northern Sudan. Parts I and II. Report to the National Science Foundation Grant GS 1192. No place, 293–305. Stout, D., Semaw, S., Rogers, M. & Cauche, D. 2010 Technological Variation in the Earliest Oldowan from Gona,Afar, Ethiopia. In: Journal of Human Evolution 58, 474–491.

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Van Peer, P. 1992 The Levallois Reduction Strategy. Monographs in World Archaeology 13. Madison. Wendorf, F. (ed.) 1968 The Prehistory of Nubia. Volume I. Dallas. Whiteman, A. J. 1971 The Geology of the Sudan Republic. Oxford.

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Pioneering Archaeological Observations Made by Klaus-Dieter Meinhold’s Geological Expedition in the Bayuda Desert in 1976–1978 Amelia Biegalska, Joanna Chruścicka, Elżbieta Kołosowska, Mirosław Masojć & Aleksandra Pudło

Abstract While carrying out field studies in the Bayuda desert in 1976–1978, a German-Sudanese geological expedition came across rich evidence of human activity dispersed on the surface at numerous sites. The collected stone artefacts, pottery, human remains and photographed rock carvings were catalogued by Klaus-Dieter Meinhold and handed over to the Museum August Kestner in Hanover, Germany. In 2012, the artefact collection from the Bayuda was made available for study to a team of researchers from the University of Wrocław and the Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk. The article discusses the results of the analyses and the possible context of the finds. Keywords: Sudan, Bayuda Desert, Palaeolithic, Levallois, Rock Art

In 1976–1978, a German-Sudanese geological expedition explored the Bayuda desert, implementing the ʻSudanese-German Exploration Project – Mineral Prospecting in the Bayuda Desertʼ supported by the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan and the Federal Republic of Germany with the cooperation of the Geological and Mineral Resources Department based in Khartoum and the Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR) from Hanover.

Fig. 1:

Klaus-Dieter Meinhold during the expedition in the Bayuda Desert in 1977 (after Meinhold 2009).

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Fig. 2:

The Bayuda Desert – sites with stone artefacts found by the members of the German expedition (photo Google Earth).

The prospection aimed at creating a geological map of the Bayuda desert.1 The records of the research are now stored in the BGR’s library, archives and collections in Hanover. Mapping out the desert’s eastern part was entrusted to Reiner Homrighausen and Klaus-Dieter Meinhold. The unplanned additional result of the work was the discovery of rich evidence of prehistoric human activity in the eastern part of the Bayuda desert.2 Its value is mainly historical as the discovery resulted from a pioneering archaeological prospection of the Bayuda. The objects then collected included stone tools, pottery, rock fragments decorated with carvings and a human skeleton. Under the supervision of Meinhold (Fig. 1), a German geologist and palaeontologist from the Technical University of Munich, the finds were recorded on maps, photographed and moved to Germany, where they were to be examined further by Friedrich W. Hinkel, an architect. This plan was never implemented and eventually the artefacts were catalogued by Meinhold; upon his retirement in 2009 they were handed over to the Museum August Kestner in Hanover.3 1 2 3

Meinhold 1978; 1981. Meinhold 2009. The artefacts donated by Klaus-Dieter Meinhold are now the property of the Museum August Kestner in Hanover (acq. no. 2013, 32, 1sq.). The authors wish to thank Christian E. Loeben for making the collection available and his assistance in elaborating the artefacts.

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Acheulian hand axe (B2009) from Site 15 near Abu Nahal (photo J. Chruścicka).

From there, through the agency of Mirosław Masojć, an archaeologist from the University of Wrocław, the artefacts were temporarily moved to Wrocław, where they were analysed and catalogued by Joanna Chruścicka, at that time student of archaeology, as part of her work on her M.A. thesis. Additional analyses of the material were carried out by Aleksandra Pudło (anthropological analysis of the human skeleton recovered in the desert) and Elżbieta Kołosowska (analysis of the pottery), both from the Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk. The Bayuda desert is situated in the north of Sudan, in the historical region of Upper Nubia, in a bend of the Nile, ca. 400 km north of Khartoum. In terms of geology the area abounds in formations of volcanic origin. In archaeological terms, the desert was poorly reconnoitred until recently. Historically, the desert and the whole of Sudan underwent climatic changes. In the Pleistocene and early Holocene the area was wetter and thus more intensively settled by humans – hence the rich evidence of human presence in the Bayuda, beyond the areas situated in close proximity to the Nile channel.4 The stone artefacts documented by Meinhold come from the surface of 18 sites situated in the vicinity of Nasb el-Husan and Abu Nahal rock complexes, in the northern part of the Bayuda desert in the vicinity of Wadi Absol Granit, the Volcanic Fields and the Jebel Razzam el-Rauyan massif as well as from the site at the desert’s north-western edge in the vicinity of the Jebel Gheinab structure (Fig. 2). The collection of over 300 artefacts includes blanks and tools made from various types of locally available material. Products from igneous rock predominate (more than 50 %), accompanied by those made from agate, chalcedony, jasper, flint, quartz, sandstone and petrified wood. The younger the finds, the greater is the variety of the raw material used for their production. The products have been preserved in various conditions; within the sites, they are chronologically mixed and belong to three settlement periods. The oldest and also the least numerous are the Lower-Palaeolithic stone artefacts linked to the Acheulian industry (ca. 1,400,000–200,000 years ago) found at three of the 18 sites (Fig. 3). 4

Fuller & Smith 2004; Paner & Pudło 2010; Lohwasser 2011; Masojć & Paner 2014; Lohwasser et al. 2014; Paner & Masojć 2016 (among others).

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Fig. 4:

A. Biegalska, J. Chruścicka, E. Kołosowska, M. Masojć & A. Pudło

Site 28 from Jebel Rahamin: 1 – convergent side-scraper (B 2182); 2 – Levalloisian core (B 2200); 3 – Levalloisian retouched flake (B 2185); 4 – flake with notched retouch (B 2190); 5 – Levalloisian core (B 2188); 6 – Levalloisian retouched flake (B 2181); 7 – Mousterian point (B 2189); 8 – Levalloisian core (B 2199); 9 – initial core (B 2195); 10 – core with circular preparation (B 2198); 11 – Mousterian point with thinned base (B 2186) (photos J. Chruścicka).

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Site 25 from Jebel Abu Sud: 1 – microlithic tool – hand axe (b 2147); 2 – cortex flake with reverse retouch (B 2146a/1); 3 – bladelet with irregular backed edge (B 2145/14); 4 – microlithic changed orientation core (B 2146/1); 5 – retouched bladelet (B 2145/18) (photos J. Chruścicka).

The next period represented by the products found on the sites’ surface is the Middle Stone Age (ca. 285,000–30,000 years ago) – those being flakes, tools and Levalloisian blanks, a few specimens of Nubian cores and Mousterian points. The artefacts from this group are the most numerous in Meinhold’s collection, as they were recorded on the surface of 11 sites (Fig. 4). Microlithisation and the use of single-platform bladelet cores date the artefacts from the third group back to the Mesolithic and Neolithic (ca. 10,000–3000 years BC) (Fig. 5). The products of the Lower-Palaeolithic pebble industry are absent; no artefacts constituting the remains of Upper-Palaeolithic settlements (ca. 40,000–20,000 years ago) have been found either, which is confirmed by the latest field work – hence it may be assumed that it was a period of settlement hiatus, caused by the worsening of climatic conditions. At one of the sites where stone products were collected, pottery fragments were also found – connected with the so-called Khartoum Mesolithic. The expedition discovered rock carvings at four sites (three sites situated in the vicinity of Nasb el-Husan and one – the richest – in the Volcanic Fields).5 They were mainly made on sandstone plates and represent zoomorphic (mainly horned cattle, also dogs, a dromedary, scorpions, a fish and a bird), anthropomorphic (hunters, warriors, herdsmen, riders) as well as geometric and symbolic images (various arrows, keys, stars, crosses, spirals, circles, schematic outlines executed with a few lines) (Figs. 6–11). On the basis of the analogy to the carvings from excavated sites in the vicinity of the 4th cataract as well as from the Eastern Desert of Egypt, some of the carvings from the sites in the Volcanic Fields may have been made in the Kerma (long-horned cattle, antelopes, dogs), the Meroitic and Post-Meroitic (dromaderies, horses, scorpions), the Christian (crosses, drafts of churches) and also the Islamic periods (a warrior with sword and rounded shield in Beja type, schematic human figures); however, because in Sudan the issue has not been fully recognised, precise dating of these artefacts is practically impossible.6 5 6

Geographical location: Site 7 – 18°17’01.91”N 33°28’24.90”E; Site 8 – 18°17’17.27”N 33°26’47.38”E; Site 9 – 18°14’14.72”N 33°28’22.07”E; Site 24 – 18°54’40.58”N 33°20’28.50”E. Alfano 1990.

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Fig. 6:

Site 24 from Jebel Dinamito Secheïr, grazing cattle (after Meinhold 2009).

Fig. 7:

Site 24 from Jebel Dinamito Secheïr, hunting animals (after Meinhold 2009).

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Fig. 8:

Site 24 from Jebel Dinamito Secheïr, image of a warrior with weapons, fish, sign of ankh and symbolic carvings (after Meinhold 2009).

Fig. 9:

Site 24 from Jebel Dinamito Secheïr, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images (after Meinhold 2009).

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A. Biegalska, J. Chruścicka, E. Kołosowska, M. Masojć & A. Pudło

Fig. 10: Site 24 from Jebel Dinamito Secheïr, symbolic, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images (after Meinhold 2009).

Fig. 11: Site 24 from Jebel Dinamito Secheïr, symbolic, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images (after Meinhold 2009).

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Fig. 13: The skull of the discovered skeleton, norma lateralis (photo A. Pudło).

Fig. 12: The rock crevice with the human remains at Site 31 (after Meinhold 2009).

Fig. 14: Right jaw bone (photo A. Pudło).

Fig. 15: Site Wadi Ben Naqa, bottom of a vessel, Meroitic period (photo J. Chruścicka).

Fig. 16: Site west of Arab El-Bir, fragment of a rim of a vessel, import from Egypt (photo J. Chruścicka).

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The members of the German expedition also came across human remains deposited directly in a rock crevice in the eastern part of the Jebel Ras ed-Dom volcanic complex, with the head pointing eastwards (Fig. 12). Absence of grave construction and dispersal of some of the bones in the vicinity of the hollow in the rocks prove that the burial was either looted or destroyed by animals. Post-depositional conditions adversely affected the remains, which are brittle and fragmented (Figs. 13–14). The greatest number of bones come from the postcranial skeleton; many small fragments were not identified. The anthropological analysis revealed that the discovered skeleton belongs to a woman, who died at the age of 20–30 years. The bones were gracile with moderately developed relief, the skull was long and low with averagely wide forehead. Degenerative changes and those caused by excessive loads in the bones of the spinal column, hands and feet indicate that while alive the woman was exposed to constant physical strain. The changes in clavicles, ulna and metatarsal bones suggest that she frequently performed the same activities while crouching, possibly doing household chores. The bones’ poor condition and absence of additional data prevented any attempt at dating the grave and the remains. Pottery fragments come from four sites, of which only one – Site 1 – is of a known location (it is situated in the vicinity of the Jebel Nakharu rock complex). The sherds may be dated approximately to the Neolithic and the Meroitic period (Fig. 15); they also include imports from Egypt and the Mediterranean (Fig. 16). The specific character of the material found by the German expedition prevents a recontextualisation of complete data as well as a detailed chronology of the development of prehistorical human settlement in the desert. The main factor responsible for the fact is that the finds catalogued by Meinhold were collected on the sites’ surface, which hinders precise determination of a full picture of human occupation of the area; additionally, the artefacts and human remains were collected at sites dispersed in various regions of the desert – sometimes quite distant from each other. Still, many hypotheses may be put forward, which testifies to great potential in further research of the Bayuda desert – inhabited and exploited by people throughout history since the Lower Palaeolithic. Klaus-Dieter Meinhold’s expedition, one of the first research missions in the Bayuda, was a pioneering attempt at examining the history of humans in this desert.

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Bibliography Alfano, C. 1990 Rock Pictures of the Eastern Desert of Egypt (1989 Campaign). In: Bonnet, Ch. (ed.), Etudes Nubiennes. Conference de Genève. Actes du VIIe Congrès international d’études nubiennes 3–8 septembre 1990, Vol. II, 1994, 117–124. Fuller, D. Q., & Smith, L. 2004 The Prehistory of the Bayuda: New Evidence from the Wadi Muqaddam. In: Kendall, T. (ed.), Nubian Studies 1998. Proceedings of the Ninth Conference of the International Society of Nubian Studies, August 21–26, 1998. Boston, 256–281. Lohwasser, A. 2011 Das Project Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.). In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 22, 59–68. Lohwasser, A., Eger, J. & Karberg, T. 2014 Das Projekt Wadi Abu Dom Itinerary (W.A.D.I.). Kampagne 2014. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 25, 177–188. Masojć, M., & Paner, H. 2014 The Bayuda Project (BP). The Palaeolithic and Neolithic Age in the Light of Current Research (2009–2011). In: Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 11, 89–100. Meinhold, K. D. 1978 Geological Map of the Northern Volcanic Field (Bayuda Desert, Sudan) 1:100,000. Hannover [Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe Hannover]. 1981 Geological Map of the Bayuda Desert 1:250 000. Hannover (gemeinsam mit H. Barth) [Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe Hannover & Geological and Mineral Resources Dept. Khartoum]. 2009 Kulturfunde in der Bayuda-Wüste, Sudan, 1976–1978. Dokumentation, Hannover (unpublished). Paner, H., & Masojć, M. 2016 From Old Sennar, Bejrawiya and Fourth Cataract – to the Bayuda Desert. In: Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 8, 9–27. Paner, H., & Pudło, A. 2010 The Bayuda Project. First Season – 2009. In: Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 7, 117–129.

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Lithic Materials from a Late Nubian Complex Middle Stone Age Site in the Bayuda Desert: Goat Mountain Mirosław Masojć

Abstract The Goat Mountain (Site BP177) is situated in the southwestern part of the Bayuda desert. It is a small volcanic hill on whose top rich stone material associated with the Middle Stone Age (MSA) was found. Excavations carried out in the site provided thousands of stone artefacts connected with the so-called Nubian Middle Stone Age. Thanks to their peculiar stratigraphic arrangement, the chronology of the layers containing the artefacts was successfully determined. This article presents the acquired stone material, which was dated within a wide chronological spectrum of 60–20 ka, i.e. the younger phase of existence of the Levalloisian Nubian Complex in Northeast Africa.1 Keywords: Sudan, Bayuda Desert, Palaeolithic, Levallois, OSL/IRSL dating

Introduction Only a few dated Middle Stone Age sites from Northeast Africa are known.2 One of them is the Goat Mountain (BP177) in the Bayuda desert in northern Sudan.3 This is a stratified site containing Middle Stone Age occupation levels within a depression – a niche in the centre of the mountain’s flat culmination. The depression is of natural origin, being the consequence of how the cone of an extinct volcano formed. Its centre was occupied by an oval stone structure, which in the Pleistocene was used as a natural shelter. Inside it, the largest concentration of stone artefacts was recorded. Within the depression, Middle StoneAge materials were recorded under a sheet of very fine neutral deposits.

General Description – Stratigraphy Most Palaeolithic sites in the Bayuda are situated either on the tops of culminations (often of volcanic origin), at their slopes, or at their feet. In their majority they are eroded, devoid of original arrangements, which results in the co-occurrence of older stone artefacts together with the artefacts from subsequent periods.4 Unlike in the remaining ones, the Goat Mountain 1 2 3 4

Van Peer 2016. Wendorf & Schild 1992; Wendorf et al. 1993; Mercier et al. 1999; Van Peer et al. 2003; 2010; Osypiński et al. 2016. Masojć 2010. Masojć & Paner 2014.

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(Site BP177) has been preserved in the original stratigraphic arrangement in a relatively small, enclosed space. The Goat Mountain is situated in the south-western part of the desert, within the Nubian sandstone formation, with dozens of volcanic cones visible in the landscape.5 It is located ca. 50 km east of the Nile valley. The mountain is a small, spatially isolated volcanic cone (dike) of the diameter of ca. 200 m (Fig. 1). The top of the culmination provided stone material, Neolithic pottery and single products displaying features of predetermined techniques from the Middle Stone Age (MSA). It is thus a typical phenomenon observed on dozens of other culminations (jebels) in the Bayuda. The Middle Stone Age artefacts were also found at the foot of the mountain, in the area abounding in numerous wadis and channels of seasonal streams filled with aeolian sand, loamy sand and dust, especially in the vicinity of the volcanic hills mentioned above. The site’s exceptional character is substantiated by the fact that originally in the middle of the mountain’s flat culmination there was a depression, a basin of the size of 15 x 8 m (Figs. 2–4). The depression’s fill is rock rubble and fine-grained material of aeolian origin. Within the depression, a horizon with Nubian MSA material was recorded under a layer of 15–20 cm of very fine neutral deposits. Below there is a horizon with a considerable number of artefacts. It seems to be the main horizon, reaching a depth of ca. 40 cm (Fig. 5). Below it, no stone material was found. The other horizon, much poorer than the one above, appears at the depth of ca. 50 cm. It is also less identifiable than the upper horizon. All the stone artefacts were produced with the use of Levalloisian technique.

Dating Luminescence dating of the deposits from Site BP177 was carried out twice: with the use of the TL method in 2011 and with the use of the OSL/IRSL method in 2013 (Tab. 1, Fig. 5). Both analyses were conducted in the TL/OSL Laboratory at the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland. The IRSL measurements were carried out with the use of an automatic Riso TL/OSL DA-20 reader with the set of optical filters Schott BG-39 and Corning 7-59 (320-480). The measurement sequence was conducted following the pIRIR290 measurement procedure (Tab. 3).6 The acquired results determined the chronology of human settlement in Site BP 177 as ca. 68/56–18/16 ka. The frequency of the occurrence of artefacts (exceeding 60,000) in the excavated area of 25 square metres testifies to the multi-stage use of the volcanic culmination by MSA communities.

Tab. 1: 5 6

Results of the OSL/IRSL dating of Site BP177, Bayuda desert, Sudan.

Location 18°4’42.21”N 32°1’41.72”E. Thiel et al. 2011.

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Fig. 1:

On the left: Northeast Africa with the Bayuda desert marked with a square. On the right: Site BP177 in the southwestern part of the Bayuda and aerial photograph of the culmination with a niche in the centre where Site BP177 is situated (photos M. Szmit).

Fig. 2:

BP177 before excavation (photo M. Masojć).

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Fig. 3:

BP177 during excavation. The ellipsis marks the natural rock structure in the central part of the niche on the top of the culmination (photo M. Masojć).

Fig. 4:

One of the squares during exploration. Black dots denote stone artefacts visible in the explored horizon. On the right: the collection of artefacts from the square after a 5 cm thick horizon was explored (photos M. Masojć).

Materials and Raw Materials The excavations comprised 25 m2, yielding a total of over 60,000 artefacts (Tab. 2). Both cores and tools, each totaling over a thousand artefacts, did not exceed 2 % of the complex’s general structure. Blanks constitute over ⅓ of the collection, while blades account for less © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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than 1 %, which seems logical, considering the specific character of the technology employed in the complex. On the other hand, debris made up of chunks and chips constitutes ⅔ of the collection. Chips account for over 30,000 artefacts (54 %) and chunks for over 5000 (8 %). Such a significant contribution of debris, and especially of chips, is a direct proof that stone working was carried out at the site. The spatial arrangement of the material shows that only in two square meters the number of artefacts was smaller than 1000 per meter. In the remaining squares the frequency of occurrence of the artefacts varied from 1500 to 3000, exceeding 3000 in the case of three squares. The greatest frequency was observed within a concentric installation, probably the central part of a depression/niche. Fig. 5: Simplified stratigraphy of the site with the marked place where the samples for Table 3 presents the structure of the theOSL/IRSLdatingwerecollected.The complex in terms of the raw material present. dashed line in the profile’s ceiling is the The prevailing raw material is petrified site’s surface with individual Neolithic wood (nearly 40 % of the collection). Two and MSA artefacts. Levels c and f with subsequent categories, each represented by the greatest density of artefacts. Level g over 10,000 artefacts, i.e. about 20 % of the devoid of artefacts. collection, are volcanic and quartzite rock. The remaining raw material played a less significant role, but even here two groups may be distinguished: still quite abundant flint and quartzitic sandstone (together amounting to nearly 20 %) and the remaining types of rock – mudstone, chalcedony and raw material represented by occasional specimens only, constituting less than 1 % of the collection. The specific character of the use of raw material by the Middle Stone Age communities seems to confirm the generally accepted opinion that they acquired rock material for their stone working needs in an exceptionally opportunistic way, as all the rock raw material present in the structure of the complex from the Goat Mountain was available in the close vicinity of the site (Fig. 6). Reconnoitering of the area around the site proved that all types of the raw

Fig. 6:

Site BP425 constituting a raw-material back-up for Site BP177 situated 1.2 km away. From the left: logs of petrified wood surrounded by quartzite and stone pebbles; in the centre: the outcrop of a quartzite vein; on the right: the outcrop of quartzitic sandstone (photos M. Masojć).

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BP177. Structure of the complex in terms of basic artefact categories per square.

Mirosław Masojć

Tab. 2:

508

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Rock raw material in Site BP 177. PW – petrified wood, V – volcanic rocks, Q – quartz, QS – quartzitic sandstone, F – flint. M – mudstone, Ch – chalcedony.

Categories of cores from the site and their raw material structure.

Tab. 3:

Tab. 4:

Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

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material used in the site were available not further than 1.2 km from it. About 1 km away from the site, there are easily accessible outcrops of quarzitic sandstone, quarzite (both in the form of pebbles and veins) and – primarily – petrified wood. This place was denoted as archaeological Site BP425, as fragments of rock displaying evidence of chipping/testing its quality were present. The phenomenon of testing was best visible in the case of petrified wood, present in the site in the form of relatively thin (up to 30 cm) fragments of petrified trees/big branches. Individual fragments of tree trunks and branches were accompanied by separated blocks of wood displaying traces of further chipping. In some cases, the blocks were tested in the way similar to the reduction of disc cores. However, the separated fragments of petrified wood were most frequently broken into smaller pieces until their size was appropriate for the production of Levallois Nubian cores. The presence of over 300 cores made from this type of raw material, accompanied only by occasional blocks of raw material, proves that the size of a block was adjusted to a future core already at the place where the raw material was acquired. The hill where Site BP177 is situated is of a volcanic origin; therefore the rock constituting 1/5 of the whole collection was present in its close vicinity. In many cases, the sizes of the rock blocks were quite big. As there was no need to transport them at greater distances (up to several dozen meters), this type of raw material was commonly used and possibly influenced the technology used in its reduction – classic Levallois core, prevalent in the case of this type of raw material. Nubian technology was primarily used in the case of petrified wood.

Technology The most evident technological feature is the presence of Nubian technology together with classic Levallois cores accompanied by constant presence of discoidal cores (Tab. 4). There is no evidence of bladelet technologies; no cores of the Upper-Palaeolithic type are present either. Out of a thousand cores nearly 40 % are amorphic forms, escaping any more precise classification, and core fragments. Nubian technology is predominantly represented by the variant of Nubian type core 2, which is only slightly inferior to classic Levallois cores (Figs. 8–12, 15). The most frequently selected raw material for Nubian cores was petrified wood – variant 2 of the Nubian core made from petrified wood is perhaps the most characteristic artefact from the site. They are flat, hardly ever exceeding 5 cm in length, and display distinct triangular morphology. Other types of raw material were used only occasionally. Variant 1 of the Nubian core occurs only as individual specimens. The most numerous category of cores consists of classic Levallois forms (nearly 20 %). This technology employed each of the five kinds of raw material abundant at the site – PW, V, Q, QS, F (see Tab. 3). Classic Levallois cores were usually made from petrified wood and quartzite, but there is also a numerous group of classic cores made from quartzitic sandstone (Figs. 13–14, 16). Forms displaying bifacial flaking are predominantly present in the category of classic Levallois cores. Microlithic forms are a very distinct category of cores, constituting 10 % of the collection. They were almost exclusively made from quartzite; they are small quartzite pieces without initial preparation and reduced with the use of changing orientation (Fig. 8: S3/44; S3/45).

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Tools Hand axes are present among the Levallois products in the lower horizon, in the period between TL-2 and TL-3 dates. Hand axes constitute altogether ca. 3 % of the tool structure of over a thousand retouched products from both horizons. It is important that the hand axe products fit the assemblage’s raw material structure; they are made from two types of raw material most frequently used in the site: petrified wood and volcanic rocks (Fig. 7). Presence of hand axes as well as bifacial foliates is by and large the only element distinguishing the lower horizon from the upper; apart from that both horizons display no differences in terms of tool structure, technological features and the raw material used. Table 5 presents a detailed tool structure of the site together with the division of raw materials for individual tool categories.

Fig. 7:

BP177. Hand axe from petrified wood (top) and volcanic rock from the site’s lower horizon (photo M. Jórdeczka).

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Levallois blades are missing in the collection, while the category of other Levallois products, namely flakes and points, is quite numerous. Flakes come both from classic Levallois cores and the Nubian forms. Points, both Mousterian and bifacial forms, are quite numerous. In their majority, the latter have survived in fragments (Figs. 17–22). These two categories constitute jointly 20 % of tools in the site. Two subsequent and very numerous categories are various types of non-Levallois retouched blanks and undetermined tools preserved in fragments – frequently big retouched flakes. The collection also includes side-scrapers, end-scrapers, borers, perforators, individual burins as well as notched and denticulated tools; it is complete with stoneworking tools – hammer stones bearing the traces of chipping on the circumference (Figs. 23–26). The raw material regularity observed in the category of cores is reflected in the tools. Levallois products are usually made from petrified wood and volcanic rock; petrified wood predominates in the Nubian technology. Relatively many tools were also made from quartzite, especially bifacial points surviving in fragments.

Conclusions Goat Mountain (Site BP177) was a place of intensive human activity of MSA communities in the period of ca. 60–20 ka. It was repeatedly used during the 40,000 years, which resulted in the concentration of an enormous number of artefacts in a small and restricted area within the depression – a natural shelter at the top of a small volcanic culmination, where two horizons were recorded. The upper one 60 ka included an assemblage of the Nubian complex together with some bifacial products. They constitute a constant component of the stone assemblage from this horizon, which – apart from them – consists solely of Levallois products. The presence of hand axes in Nubian MSA assemblages in the Bayuda may possibly result from the raw material available and the need to produce tools from volcanic rocks and petrified wood – both posing great difficulties in processing. In the vast areas of the Bayuda’s interior, far from the Nile valley, the tradition of producing hand axe tools may have lasted in the MSA assemblages until the late stage of functioning of MSA communities. The site’s rich stone collection consisting of ca. 60,000 products undoubtedly results from many settlement episodes. A number of MSA sites were discovered around the hill where Site BP177 is situated. They surround it, situated along the now non-existent water courses and in the places where stagnant water remained for prolonged periods of time. That is where encampments were probably set up and that is where various activities connected with hunting were carried out. The top of the hill seems to have been a perfect vantage point. It may have been a place where hunting weapons were prepared while game animals were being watched out for. The natural stone and concentric installation may have served as a shelter. Undoubtedly, the hilltop was a place where MSA groups stayed for prolonged periods of time throughout millennia of this cultural unit’s existence. The site offers evidence for multi-seasonal settlement of the modern Homo of the Levalloisian tradition after 60 ka in the interior of the Bayuda, far from the Nile corridor.

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Tab. 5:

Categories of tools from the site and their raw material structure.

513

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Fig. 8:

Mirosław Masojć

BP177. Selection of cores: Nubian type cores, microlithic cores. PW – petrified wood, V – volcanic rock, Q – quartz, QS – quartzitic sandstone, F – flint (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 9:

BP177. Nubian type cores (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Fig. 10: BP177. Nubian type cores (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 11: BP177. Levallois cores (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Fig. 12: BP177. Nubian type cores (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 13: BP177. Levallois cores (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Fig. 14: BP177. Levallois cores and bifacial point (S2/19) (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 15: BP177. Nubian type cores (photo M. Jórdeczka).

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Fig. 16: BP177. Selection of Levallois cores (photo M. Jórdeczka).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 17: BP177. Levallois and Mousterian points (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Fig. 18: BP177. Levallois, Mousterian and bifacial foliates (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 19: BP177. Levallois, Mousterian and bifacial foliates (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Fig. 20: BP177. Bifacial foliates (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 21: BP177. Selection of points (photo M. Jórdeczka).

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Fig. 22: BP177. Bifacial foliates (photo M. Jórdeczka).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 23: BP177. End-scrapers and points (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Fig. 24: BP177. Selection of denticulate tools (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 25: BP177. Selection of tools (photo M. Jórdeczka).

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Fig. 26: BP177. Selection of tools (photo M. Jórdeczka).

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Lithic Materials from the Goat Mountain

Fig. 27: BP177. Levallois raw material (drawing M. Ehlert).

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Bibliography Masojć, M. 2010 First Note on the Discovery of a Stratified Palaeolithic Site from the Bayuda Desert (N Sudan) within MAG Concession. In: Der Antike Sudan. MittSAG 21, 63–70. Masojć, M., & Paner, H. 2014 The Bayuda Project (BP). The Palaeolithic and Neolithic Age in the Light of Current Research (2009–2011). In: Gdańsk Archaeological Museum African Reports 11, 89–100. Mercier, N., Valladas, H., Froget, L., Joron, J. L., Vermeersch, P. M., Van Peer, P. & Moeyersons, J. 1999 Thermoluminescence Dating of a Middle Palaeolithic Occupation at Sodmein Cave, Red Sea Mountains (Egypt). In: Journal of Archaeological Science 26.11, 1339–1345. Osypiński, P., Morley, M. W., Osypińska, M. & Kotarba-Morley, A. M. 2016 Terminal Pleistocene Habitation Structures and Riverine Palaeoenvironments of the Middle Nile Valley: Evidence from the settlement site Affad 23. In: Antiquity 90 (352), 894–913. Thiel, Ch., Buylaert, J.-P., Murray, A. S., Terhorst, B., Tsukamoto, S., Frechen, M. & Sprafke, T. 2011 Investigating the Chronostratigraphy of Prominent Palaeosols in Lower Austria Using Post-IR IRSL Dating. In: Quaternary Science Journal 60.1, 137–152. Van Peer, P. 2016 Technological Systems, Population Dynamics and Historical Process in the MSA of Northern Africa. In: Jones, S. & Stewart, B. (eds.), Africa from MIS 6-2: Population Dynamics and Paleoenvironments. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Dordrecht, 147–160. Van Peer, P., Fullagar, R., Stokes, S., Bailey, R. M., Moeyersons, J., Steenhoudt, F., Geerts, A., Vanderbeken, T., De Dapper, M. & Geus, F. 2003 The Early to Middle Stone Age Transition and the Emergence of Modern Human Behaviour at site 8-B-11, Sai Island, Sudan. In: Journal of Human Evolution 45, 187–193. Van Peer, P., Vermeersch, P. M. & Paulissen, E. 2010 Chert Quarrying, Lithic Technology and a Modern Human Burial at the Palaeolithic Site of Taramsa 1, Upper Egypt. Egyptian Prehistory Monographs 5. Leuven. Wendorf, F. & Schild, R. 1992 The Middle Paleolithic of North Africa: A Status Report. In: Klees, F. & Kuper, R. (eds.), New Light on the Northeast African Past. Köln, 39–78. Wendorf, F., Schild, R. & Close, A. 1993 Egypt During the Last Interglacial: The Middle Paleolithic of Bir Tarfawi and Bir Sahara East. New York.

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Author Contacts Johannes Auenmüller Institute of Egyptology and Coptology, University of Münster, Germany [email protected] Fawzi Hassan Bakhiet Department of Archaeology, Al-Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan [email protected] André Beuger Hennigsdorf, Germany [email protected] Amelia Biegalska Department of Historical and Pedagogical Studies, University of Wrocław, Poland [email protected] Joanna Chruścicka University of Wrocław, Poland [email protected] Joanna A. Ciesielska Institute of Archaeology, Faculty of History, University of Warsaw, Poland [email protected] Jana Eger Institute of Egyptology and Coptology, University of Münster, Germany [email protected] Dieter Eigner Ledererhof 2, 1010 Wien, Austria [email protected] Mohammed Eltoum Mohammed Fadlelmola National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, Khartoum, Sudan [email protected] Dorian Q. Fuller Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK [email protected] Baldur Gabriel Gertraudenstr. 13, D-16225 Eberswalde, Germany [email protected] © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7

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Birgit Grosskopf Department for Historic Anthropology and Human Ecology, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Germany [email protected] Susanne Hummel Department for Historic Anthropology and Human Ecology, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Germany [email protected] Friederike Jugert Department for Historic Anthropology and Human Ecology, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Germany [email protected] Tim Karberg Institute of Egyptology and Coptology, University of Münster, Germany [email protected] Timothy Kendall 81 Essex St., Salem, Massachusetts, USA [email protected] Theresa W. Klatt Department for Historic Anthropology and Human Ecology, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Germany [email protected] Elżbieta Kołosowska Gdańsk Archaeological Museum, Poland [email protected] Angelika Lohwasser Institute of Egyptology and Coptology, University of Münster, Germany [email protected] Madani Mohamed Abualfath Madani Khartoum, Sudan [email protected] Michael Mallinson Mallinson Architects, London, UK [email protected]

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Author Contacts

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Mirosław Masojć Institute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław, Poland [email protected] Abdelrahman Ali Mohammed National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, Khartoum, Sudan [email protected] Ahmed Hamid Nassr Department of Archaeology, Al-Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan [email protected] Artur Obłuski Research Centre in Cairo, Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw [email protected] Henryk Paner Gdańsk Archaeological Museum, Poland [email protected] Aleksandra Pudło Gdańsk Archaeological Museum, Poland [email protected] Loai Shamsalola National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums, Khartoum, Sudan [email protected] Laurence M. V. Smith McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research and Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK [email protected] Robert J. Stark Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Canada [email protected] Alexandros Tsakos Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Norway [email protected] Jalina Tschernig Kirchgasse 1, 12043 Berlin, Germany [email protected] © 2018, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden ISBN Print: 978-3-447-11064-8 — ISBN E-Book: 978-3-447-19771-7